Our Name
by SpartanOtaku
Summary: Two lovers separated by time and space finally reunite. With curiosity as to what the years ahead have in store for them, the only way for them to know is to find out together.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note (you're crazy if you read the whole thing): First Fanfic ever, and of course it's about** **unanimous MVP** **Anime Movie of the Year "Kimi no Na Wa". I absolutely loved the characters, the art style, the voice acting, pretty much everything about this movie was nailed head on. Except for the story at times. But that's to be expected with these supernatural love stories. It's still the best love story I've experienced in my life time, but the more I wrote this fic, the more I sorta realized how silly the story could be at times, especially the ending. I guess it's actually really hard to stay away from anime cliché and not dig into the "fate/chance" bag and make a movie that's gonna shoot for gold. Either way, the movie made me cry in the theater and kept me up for a few nights. But even so it's by far one of the best movies, both anime and live action, I've ever seen. I tried to stay away from this film, simply because I was warned that it was a surefire feels trip, and my history with emotional stories is not pretty. As a result, this poorly-written and extremely cheesy fic was spawned. Despite all of this, I would strongly urge anyone who's a fan of cinematics in general to go see it. That being said, this fic contains MAJOR LEAGUE SPOILERS that will assuredly ruin the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. On an end note, I own 0% stake or interest in this movie, all rights and IP are owned by the lord of feels Makoto Shinkai.**

Just like everyone else, Tachibana Taki and Miyamizu Mitsuha were going through the motions of everyday life. The 22 year old architect and the 25 year old credit union saleswoman embarked on trains that would take them to their respective offices, on paths that are supposed to never intersect. They would work from 9 to 5, get back on their trains and commute home. And do it all again the next day. With little to no variance in the day's proceedings.

One could say that they live very dull and boring lives. And neither of them would argue that. They know how little shift or change there is in their daily routine. Maybe on a weekend they'll hang out with their friends, but that's about it. They live these monotonous schedules with nothing worth writing home about. And to most, it would be a very agonizing experience. But for Taki and Mitsuha, they'd willingly trade what they have to battle inside for a normal life.

8 years passed since the comet Tiamat destroyed Itomori, Mitsuha's place of birth and home for 17 years. A disaster that would've claimed the lives of 500 Itomori residents, very well possibly including Mitsuha's. But the town was evacuated thanks to Mitsuha herself, saving those lives. And while the collateral destruction to the town was beyond restoration, the population of the eradicated town remained unscathed. Many of these people emigrated to Tokyo, a bustling haven of technology, commerce, education, and wellness. It was the kind of environment Mitsuha had always dreamed of. And although she had to move on under tough circumstances, she finally got to become the Tokyo girl she always wanted to be. But even with the transition in scenery, she still couldn't remember what foretold her of the meteor's crash. Even more so, the memory of finding the words "I love you" written on her hand stuck with her and the inability to remember who wrote it tortured her for years.

For Taki, it was another thing in the news. The destruction of Itomori was a headline on the news for some time. But even with its tremendous impact on Japan as a whole, it had very little impact on Taki and his life. Curiously though, he remembers spending late nights studying the details of the incident, including the timing of the impact, the topography of the land, and even the spiritual ideas associated with a passing comet. He even remembers embarking on an insane journey to the wasteland, trekking all the way to the rim of the first crater, only to forget why he was there in the first place.

So they both live in Tokyo, living normal lives and working to make money and get by. An idea that they learned from their studies of Western culture was called "the American dream". But something was missing. The years passing after the meteor struck were spent fighting an emptiness. They remember so little, yet the effects of the comet's landing are profound enough to create an everlasting yearning for something. Or someone.

The commute began as normal. Getting on the crowded train and waiting for their stop. Due to the infrastructure of the railways, trains would often run parallel and close enough for passengers to visibly see into the other train. Taki and Mitsuha made the same commute to work everyday for some time, and every time it felt like something, or someone, they knew was very close by.

On what would've otherwise been a completely normal day for the two of them, one fateful encounter forever changed their lives.

"Kimi no na wa?"

The overwhelming feeling of familiarity with the person before them created a desperate need to know each other. What seemed like an endless struggle to find what they'd been missing for so many years turned to fruition as the memories of switching bodies and living each other's lives came flooding back. For all the years they spent not being able to remember each other's name, it took one question to restore everything they had together 5 years ago.

"Taki" said the woman in a yellow cardigan and pink pants.

"Mitsuha" said the man in a formal business suit.

No other words needed, they knew what was happening. The long days of living with this mysterious void inside them just came to a crashing halt. They stared at each other speechless as tears started to drown their eyes. The search was over. At long last, the two pawns of the comet Tiamat's love game were reunited. And the time lost between them was to be made up immediately.

Without hesitation, they leapt at each other with open arms and caught each other in a passionate embrace, squeezing each other as tightly as possible out of fear that the other would somehow slip away. The tears rolled off each other's cheeks as their bodies and faces clashed as if they wanted to merge into one entity. The two of them hysterically repeated each other's names, audibly expressing joy and relief that they had finally found the one they'd been missing all these years. They held each other for what felt like another 5 years, completely excluding the world around them. It seemed like they were trying to create an empty world for themselves with only the two of them in it. They somehow regained enough composure to deliver an emotional kiss, and they locked lips to make up for what they should've done 5 years ago in kataware-doki. Their tongues waltzed, as they wanted a slow and graceful moment that would last forever.

Miraculously, they came to their senses and realized that they were jeopardizing their prior engagements, and hesitantly broke their kiss. Mitsuha, still in Taki's arms, buried her face into his chest, and barely muffled out "I don't wanna go" while still being choked up from emotion. Taki, still in Mitsuha's tight squeeze, quietly said "Neither do I".

"But we have to. I don't wanna risk my job. Even more so now. Because I wanna be able to take care of you. And treat you like a queen. I want a life with you now."

"When will I see you again, my love?"

Taki paused as he searched for an answer to his partner's question.

"How about right back here at 5:15? I will take off around 5 and run right back here to see you"

"I'd follow you to work if I could" she cutely giggled.

Taki had to fight every ounce of urge in his mind and body to bring Mitsuha with him to work. The thought of holding her and kissing her at his desk began to cloud his judgement and twist his wires. But the knowledge of being assuredly fired on the spot deterred him from taking her up on her offer.

"Hehe" he chuckled nervously. "I don't think my supervisors would appreciate that."

"I was half joking, but half serious, Taki-kun. Anyway, I'll let you go now. And I'll see you back here at 5:15. I promise"

Suddenly, Taki was stricken. He remembered how easily he'd forgotten Mitsuha's name the first time. _What if it happens again?_

"But just in case something happens, I want to be able to reach you, no matter where you are. Our first mistake was not creating a way to remember each other."

"Uhh, _your_ first mistake. You were supposed to write your name on my hand"

Taki realized his fault and chuckled nervously again while rubbing the back of his head. And before she knew it, Mitsuha began to tear up again and emotion began to infest her throat.

"Instead you wrote 'I love you'," she said quietly, stroking the spot on her hand where Taki wrote his fateful message with her thumb.

"Then let me atone for it. Let me always be there for you. Let me always be by your side, no matter where I am," said Taki as he held out his phone, already turned on to his dial screen.

Mitsuha wiped the tears from her face and took Taki's phone, beginning to enter her phone number. With every stroke and tap of the digits, she savored the idea that she was never going to lose Taki ever again.

She returned Taki's phone to its owner. And solemnly said "5:15, sweetheart. I'll be right here."

"Can't come soon enough," said Taki, as he began to depart in the other direction. "I can't wait to see you again already."

"You haven't left yet, baka!"

Taki couldn't help but laugh, as she was the same Mitsuha he had fallen in love with 5 years ago.

"Oh! Taki! Wait!"

Taki turned 180 degrees on a dime and almost sprinted back to Mitsuha.

"So that I'll always be a part of you. Hold your hand out"

Somehow, Taki knew exactly what was gonna happen. So he enthusiastically held out his wrist. And Mitsuha undid the red corded braid that held her hair together. Without a moment to spare, she began to tie the braid around his wrist, in the same fashion that he had worn the one she threw to him 8 years ago. Before they really knew each other.

 _This is my Mitsuha._ Taki thought this as tears began to jerk again. _Dude…I can't walk into work crying, my coworkers are gonna think I'm weird._

As Mitsuha finished tying the braid, Taki regained his composure. He stared down at his piece of his partner that would brand him and forever remind him who he belongs to.

"Time couldn't tear us apart. So there's nothing to be afraid of. Not anymore. 5:15."

Mitsuha could only manage to smile at him before he started walking back towards his destination. As he left her sight over the top of the stairs, she quickly pulled her phone out, waiting for either a call or text message from her life line. She waited for seemingly hours before her phone screen lit up. It was a text message. From a phone number with no contact attached to it. It said very little, but despite its brevity, the words were enough to affirm Mitsuha that her Taki was forever in reach.

'It wasn't easy because you were so far away. But now you'll always be with me. And me with you. I love you.'

 **Author's note: It's worth noting that I started writing this during baseball practice. I can tell that this movie affected me tremendously because I can remember it vividly in a place where anime would be detested. Looking back over this, I realize that it is indeed extremely cliché and cheesy, and doesn't really differentiate itself from other fics of this movie (not that there's anything wrong with that). But this is how I imagine the events immediately following the ending took place. They make sense to me, at least. I'm sorta faint of heart when it comes to criticism of my creative works (and oddly enough, not my windup or delivery), so go easy on me. I have so much of these fictional characters' lives together planned out that I'd love to put them into words, just in a way that isn't completely cringeworthy. Lemme know what you guys think. Cheers.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note (actually don't read this, just skip to cringe fest): Howdy, fellas! Back for more, eh? Well to anyone who read the first chapter, thank you so much. I was actually really proud of it, and it made me sound a lot more articulate than I really am. Anyway, this is once again the product of not being able to concentrate during baseball practice (I warm the bench anyway, who gives a damn) and I'm glad I was able to put together a substantive piece of work. These two are still on my mind even a week after I saw the movie, and their story just continues to invade my psyche. So here's my take on the early stages of Taki and Mitsuha's life together. Hope you enjoy.**

It wasn't long before Taki found himself drawing Mitsuha instead of the blueprints he was supposed to be putting together. Taki's work didn't deviate too far from sketching plans and blueprints for his architectural firm. He'd always been immensely talented in free-hand drawing, and it served him well in his current occupation. His main motivation for going into civil engineering was to help make Tokyo, and all of Japan for that matter, more memorable for its citizens. The years he spent not being able to remember Mitsuha created the urge to help ensure that no one else has to suffer from forgetting their fondest memories. Right now, his group was developing the structural design of a strip mall, which Taki hopes can bring friends closer together and forge long-lasting memories for those people. Usually, he's laser-focused and deeply vested into his work. But for obvious reasons today, he was noticeably sidetracked.

"She's pretty and all, Tachibana-san, but that's not gonna help us get this strip mall done."

Taki hadn't even realized it until his supervisor pointed it out, but he looked down at his papers and saw that he'd been drawing Mitsuha for the past 4 hours. Much to the chagrin of the supervisor, but the situation created an opportunity for his coworkers to tease him a little bit.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN, BOY, WHO DIS?"

"THIS YO GIRL, BRO?"

"I guess Tachibana-san isn't a virgin after all"

For the rest of the day until 5, Taki endured humiliation for his absentmindedness. And while he ultimately got done what he intended to, he couldn't help but leave his office with utter embarrassment. On his way out of the building, he flipped through his sketchpad to see just how distracted he was for half the day. He stared in bewilderment as his sketchpad was 12 pages deep with drawings of Mitsuha. All in different poses, but the facial features on every single depth were nearly identical. Most would have been impressed with the attention to detail and the sheer depth of his sketches, but in the workplace, it had cost him a lot of time, and some pride along with that.

But he wasn't bothered by it at all

 _She's so beautiful, though_.

He looked down at his watch to see the big hand point towards 12 and the little hand point towards 5, and realized that he was only 15 minutes from seeing the real thing. A sudden jolt of adrenaline gave him the energy he needed to run for the train station. The stop he needed to get off at came much earlier than expected, since it was a completely off-route detour of his normal commute home. He nearly missed his chance, and had to plow through a crowd of people to get off the train. He again looked down at his watch, panting from his the quick loss of energy from fighting through multiple train passengers. He began to panic when he saw his watch read 5:14, and sprinted to the stairwell. He arrived completely out of breath, and looked over the edge to see his gorgeous partner waiting patiently, leaned up against the railing and looking at her phone. Taki was fatigued, both physically and mentally, making the distance between him and Mitsuha seem twice as long. He made his way down the stairs, trying his hardest to hide his exhaustion. It didn't work as he was breathing noticeably heavily, and Mitsuha just giggled when he approached her.

"A little tired there?"

Taki just sighed and dipped his head down, bearing the weight of his upper body on his hands and knees. Mitsuha placed her hand on his back, sliding it back and forth.

"Thank you for coming to see me, darling. I've been wanting to see you all day. And it looks like you did too," she said softly.

Taki recovered enough energy to stand up straight. He looked Mitsuha straight in the eye and took her hands into his.

"Guilty as charged," he chuckled.

She reached up and wrapped and her arms around his neck, and rested her cheek against his chest. Taki returned her hold and placed his arms around her, holding her head against his chest with one hand. Just like when they had met each other for the first time in 5 years just a few hours ago, the world around them slowed down, and they enjoyed each other for what felt like forever.

With her eyes forced shut and body experiencing a slow melting feeling, Mitsuha sighed in ecstasy as she snuggled closer to Taki in his embrace.

"It was only a few hours ago, but I felt like I hadn't seen you for another 8 years. My heart was yearning for you."

Taki planted a small kiss onto the top of Mitsuha's head and dug his face into it, squeezing her tighter. It wasn't long before he himself began to feel his body melt away. He could feel a lot of Mitsuha's weight against his body; in fact it felt like she wasn't standing at all and he was the only thing keeping her up. Realizing his own body was giving way as well, he knew he had to get the two of them to a place to sit. Otherwise, they would both collapse and not only look very silly, but almost certainly hurt some part of their bodies in the process. His eyes darted around the immediate area for a bench, edge, or somewhere to get off their feet. And then he realized " _Wait, why don't we just sit on the stairs?"_

He gently lowered himself and Mitsuha towards the ground, who didn't seem intent on releasing her grip on him. After some struggle, he managed to get the two of them to sit comfortably on the ground. This was all new. Holding another person in a public setting. In their youth, they'd detested romance and tried to tell themselves that relationships were a waste of time and nothing more than a distraction from the real world. They would always think they were single by choice, and could maintain a relationship if they wanted to. But deep inside, they knew that they couldn't get it right. Their own awkwardness and lack of confidence denied them any chances for a significant other. At least in their own bodies. When they would enter each other's worlds, they seemed to know exactly how to stand out. Taki made Mitsuha more adventurous and exuberant, while Mitsuha brought out a more feminine persona for Taki that ultimately landed him a date with a revered coworker. Through the aftermath in their own world caused by the other, Taki and Mitsuha learned more and more about themselves and what they truly value in a relationship. It just so happened that they were a perfect match.

The position they were in generated a lot of attention from passing eyes. Mitsuha's arms still hung around Taki's neck, with her head buried in his neck, as one of Taki's own arms was draped around Mitsuha's shoulders with his head leaning against hers. It definitely looked strange, two grown adults performing a public display of immense affection as if they were still in high school. Not to mention that the two of them were blocking an entire half of the stairwell, much to the ire of people trying to get up and down the steps.

"Don't worry about them. We're just paying our dues. To each other, that is"

"Yeah. I don't mind the eyes. I wouldn't expect them to understand what we've been through."

"And how much we had to fight to find each other."

"If they understood, they wouldn't mind. But they don't, and that's fine with me."

Eventually the flow of people died down, and it felt mostly like they had the stairwell to themselves. During that time, there were no words spoken. No conversation, no catch up, no retelling of the day. They just rested. And enjoyed each other's presence. After going 5 years without it.

Taki looked down at his watch and saw 5:45. Almost on cue, his stomach grumbled in request for something to eat. Upon hearing this, Mitsuha began to giggle and lifted her head off of Taki's shoulder, turning to see him and gazing into his sparkling blue eyes with her own soft brown ones.

"It sounds like it's time for dinner," she said with a smile.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?"

The two of them stood up on wobbly legs and dusted themselves off after sitting on the ground for almost half an hour. Taki's jacket was almost ruined from the dirt on the ground and a horrible crimp where the back had folded when he leaned against the wall. Mitsuha's cardigan also suffered some taint, but luckily could be easily swept clean.

"Hehe. I feel like with everything that's happened today, there's only one place we can go where we can really catch up and re-forge our memories."

This place was none other than the Italian restaurant where Taki used to work. And for the short time they were switching bodies, Mitsuha also technically worked here. They were both very familiar with the establishment. The food, the setting, the environment, and just the overall feel. But they both knew that with so many years having passed, the staff would undoubtedly be different. Most of Taki's coworkers could be considered negligible at this point, but even after all these years, the head waitress Okudera Miki still had her imprint on both Taki and Mitsuha's memories. They accepted it, though. It was a feeling that if she was still there, there would be a little of the past to hang on to, but if she wasn't, then it would only mean a brand new chapter of their lives was born, with only themselves to write it.

As they made their way to the restaurant, their hands had almost become numb from how tightly they held each other's. Eventually, Mitsuha ditched the hand-holding and just held Taki's arm, who didn't seem to mind either way. Along the way, they conversed about each other's day, knowing that when they got to the restaurant, they would be discussing something much deeper.

"Well I could show you how my day went. Let's just say I'm finally known for something around the office now."

Taki chuckled as he pulled his sketchpad out of his carry-all. He handed it to Mitsuha, who, upon flipping through the first 3 or so pages, began to tear up. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; the woman drawn in so many pages in Taki's sketchpad was completely gorgeous. To the point where she actually couldn't believe it.

"Taki-kun. Oh. I wish I actually looked like this." Mitsuha ran her fingers across one his handcrafted masterpieces.

"Eh, I wouldn't say so. Those aren't very good, I would say you're much prettier in real life."

Mitsuha almost broke down into a crying mess after hearing these words. To know that she was on his mind to this magnitude and that he thinks of her this way made her happy beyond what her heart could withstand. She buried her face into Taki's arm and began to muffle out some words.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'll show you exactly what I mean. Some day."

"I feel the same way. You've only been back in my life for a few hours, yet you've brought me more happiness in that time than what I've felt for the last 5 years. You've given me a reason to keep going. And that some things are worth waiting for."

He planted another kiss onto the top of Mitsuha's head, who had to battle the urge to stop and slam her lips into his. Oddly enough, what ultimately stopped her was knowing he was hungry and probably wanted to get to the restaurant as quickly as possible. So with her arm still hooked around his, they kept walking.

Eventually they got to the restaurant, and was met with a pretty sizable crowd. The dreariness of going through the same routine every single day left them devoid of some of the most basic knowledge that's usually taken for granted. Like knowing what day of the week it was. Well, it was Friday. And it was 6 P.M. And the place was totally packed.

Taki began to experience a very odd mixture of feelings. The heart-pumping and stress-inducing race against time and the customers' patience as a waiter brought back some rather forgettable memories, but having put so much of his youth life into making this place go and seeing how busy it was, he felt like he had a responsibility to step in a give the place a hand. Of course Mitsuha felt sort of the same way too, albeit not to the degree that Taki did, having only "worked here" every other day for a couple of weeks. What took them both completely aback was seeing the host. It was the same guy. From 5 years ago. Doing the same thing. With the same bright smile on his face. He was one of the only people who, during Taki's tenure at the joint, seemed like they enjoyed what they were doing. His efficiency hadn't faltered, either. The waiting guests spent very little time meandering, as his clairvoyance and observation allowed him to seat customers as quickly as possible. He had obviously aged a little, but his features were roughly the same and his beaming personality and attitude towards the patrons all but guaranteed that it was the same guy Taki worked with 5 years ago.

The restaurant had a really nice seating area outside that kept the host's stand clear and free of obstruction and crowds. So approaching the stand was as simple as walking up to it. As soon as the couple came within clear viewing distance of the host, Taki held his hand up in salutation to his former colleague. The host's jaw almost dropped upon seeing him.

"My goodness…how long has it been?"

"About five years, maybe?"

"It's good to see you, Tachibana-kun"

"Likewise"

The two men grabbed each other's right hand, pulled each other closer and put their free hand on the other's back. Mitsuha, despite having a hazy memory of this host, couldn't help but smile with her hands clasped together.

"And it looks like you're already spoken for. Who's the future Mrs. Tachibana?"

"Eh?! Well. Umm." At this point, Taki's cheeks were completely engulfed in red. "This is Mitsuha. My uhh…uh…"

"Giiirlfriiieeend"

"Right. My uhh…my girlfriend…" Taki performed his signature chuckling and rubbing the back of his head act, having turned into a tomato with his eyes glued to the ground. Mitsuha just closed her eyes and smiled. The host had to restrain himself from laughing.

"Right. Well Tachibana-kun, having worked here for some time, you're well aware of our private room, correct?"

"Oh how could I forget? The tips I got from waiting that room were enough to buy lunch for a week"

"Hehe. Well, I sure hope you work what you dress for, because that means money. Which means big tip. Because you're gonna be having dinner in that room."

Taki's eyes expanded and just stared at this guy. Who offered him an experience he thought to be impossible as a waiter. This room was the money room. The likes of Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka1 have dined here. During his time here, he had only dreamed of someday having saved enough money to take someone really special here, who at the time was Okudera-senpai. But here he is five years later. On the same day he finds his true love, he has a chance to really treat her to a spectacular night. How fitting. From this point, Taki began to believe that he was being watched over by something. Or someone. He would've liked to believe that it was the Miyamizu shrine god, but he wasn't really sure what to think.

"W-w-w-w-what? I mean, are you serious? Does no one have it booked?"

"Nah. It's open tonight. The only free night in a 5 week stretch. How freaking lucky are you?"

Taki was completely speechless, while Mitsuha, having never waited this room, didn't really know what the private room was aside from light talk with Taki's coworkers.

"Well, then. Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana, if you would follow me this way, please"

1 _Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka are prominent Major League Baseball players of Japanese origin_

 **Author's note: Well if you read through the whole thing, then I thank you. A lot. If you read through the whole thing without cringing, then you deserve a medal. Even though this fic is absolute sharp cheddar, I still think it's pretty cute. Taki and Mitsuha have a cute relationship that left me wanting more. This chapter was a little harder to write, since the last one was mostly retelling of the movie, while this one is written going off of nothing and based solely on imagination. Either way, it was still fun to write and the third chapter is getting churned out. Whether you like it or not. For anyone who didn't die of cringe reading that, you're awesome. That being said, for anyone still reading, thank you so much for giving this fic the attention it totally doesn't deserve. I'll see whoever in the next one. Cheers.**


	3. Chapter 3

"C'mon, Taki-kun" Mitsuha whispered as she tried to move a totally spaced out Taki.

He snapped to his senses and the two of them followed the host up a tucked away flight of stairs in the back corner of the building. With every step up the stairs, Taki could only hope to contain the elation that was the thought of the night he was about to have with Mitsuha. It was only a few hours ago that he committed to treating her like a queen. He couldn't believe that it was gonna happen this fast. The trio approached a closed door that had almost no light protruding through.

"Tachibana-kun, I know you are familiar with this room, so you know what to behold. As for your partner, is she ready?"

"Let's do it."

"Well then. You two enjoy your meal" the host pulled the door open and what Taki and Mitsuha were met with was a dimly-lit, elegant room. With windows that looked out to the Tokyo skyline, which at this time was gorgeously lit, making for a breathtaking view.

"I-i-i. I don't know what to say. I can't put into words how much I appreciate all this."

"Just think of it as a favor. Besides, it's good to see that you've settled down and found someone to be with. I'm still working on it myself, but I'd say I've got a wide field to work with." The host reached into his pocket and pulled out several small pieces of paper. With digits on them. That were most likely phone numbers.

Taki couldn't help but smile as the host was the same guy he worked with years ago. It was good to see that he didn't burn out from this job. And that he's in a spot where he's totally content.

"Your server will be with you shortly. It was really nice to see you, Tachibana-kun. It meant a lot to me that you remembered me after all these years."

"Likewise, man. Likewise." The two shook hands for the last time in the night, and the host departed back to his post. While he was walking away, though, he turned around and gave Taki a serious look and pointed right at him.

"I expect an invite to the wedding!" he yelled on the way out.

"Eh! Eh… hehe"

"Taki-kun. Umm. Can I tell you something?" Mitsuha's voice in such a low tone seemed to serenade Taki, as he turned around and went to her almost in a trance. "Yes, my dear?"

"Ahem…WHY WOULD YOU BRING ME UP HERE? LOOK AT ME, I AM BEYOND UNDERDRESSED! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, TAKI-KUN, WHY?!" The 180 degree flip in mood flustered Taki, as he realized that Mitsuha had come in totally casual clothing, given what day of the week it was. His mind scrambled as he searched for any logical reason to calm her down.

"B-b-b-b-b-but there's no one here! There's no one here to see you!"

"Are you dense? The server, hello? You're gonna bring me into an upscale part of a restaurant knowing I look this this? I didn't have a chance to make myself look nice!"

"Are you serious right now? You're worried about the serve-"

"IF I'M GONNA HAVE A NICE CANDLELIT DINNER WITH YOU, I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AS NICE AS POSSIBLE, TAKI-KUN, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Why didn't you say anything the whole time we were walking up here, then?!"

"Because I didn't wanna be rude! And besides, you lived in my body long enough to know that I like to make myself pretty."

"Honestly…you're perfect the way you are right now. I think you're beautiful just like this, I don't think a nice outfit could make you look any better than you already do."

Mitsuha just stared at him with one twitching eye, awestruck that he even tried to use that line.

"REALLY, TAKI-KUN? I DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE IN A CHEESY ROMANTIC DRAMA THAT WARRANTED THAT CHEESY-ASS LINE!"

Taki was beginning to reach his limit. His excitement for the chance to have this really nice dinner with the love of his life quickly turned to frustration. And it didn't take long for Mitsuha to notice. She quickly went over to him and put her hands on his chest with a worried look on her face.

"Baby, it's just…how often are we gonna be able to do this? What I'm so upset about is that…we're about to have the most romantic and classy dinner that either of us have ever had. And look at me…"

"I know you thought it was just a lame pickup line, but I meant it wholeheartedly. No matter what you're wearing, no matter how much makeup or anything like that you have on, you're still gonna be the most beautiful woman in the world to me. What matters is that you're here with me. No amount of aesthetics would change how much I appreciate being with you right now."

Mitsuha slid her hands up and over his shoulders, and placed her forehead onto his chest.

"This is already a special night for me. I'm a woman and you should understand that. You're so handsome right now, and I'm just…"

Before Mitsuha could finish her sentence, the server came through a door that lead to the kitchen. The room even had its own separate pathway for servers to bring food out to.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Did you guys need a second to get settled?"

"Oh no! My apologies, we were just discussi-"

"Yeah! Yeah! We're okay. We were just having uhh…a discussion."

The server tried to come up with something to say, but decided to avoid saying anything at all to avoid possibly making the situation unbearably awkward.

"Well, I'm not one to judge. If we're ready, have a seat!"

Taki pulled a chair out for Mitsuha to sit down, who promptly did so. He pushed her chair and made his way over to his own chair across the table. As he sat down, the server inquired for their choice of drink while placing down menus. Mitsuha had already decided in her head on just tea, but Taki had something else in store.

"Dassai 23, please." Mitsuha gasped, as she and Taki knew well that this was the highest quality sake offered, as well as easily the most expensive.

"Taki-kun! Are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to feel like you have to get it for me…"

"I insist. Please don't worry about it."

The server retreated to the back door to retrieve their libation. Taki took advantage of the solitude and reached over the table to take Mitsuha's hands into his own.

"I plan on spending the rest of my life with you. I just thought we might as well start it off with a bang."

"I…I don't know what to say, Taki-kun. You've…there's so much I wanna tell you. But not in a public setting. This may be private room, but we're not in a place with just each other."

Taki closed his eyes and chuckled at how unnecessarily nervous Mitsuha was. "Well. We have an entire weekend to catch up. And our whole lives after that to enjoy each other. I think I can wait until we're alone."

Mitsuha's tranquility began to rapidly drain as she held back tears. "Life's better with you already."

The server returned with their coveted vase of junmai daiginjo shu. Before a moment's notice, the couple beheld on the table a vessel of the most expensive drink in the house, along with two identical ochoko. As nervous as Mitsuha was, Taki suddenly felt equal, if not greater, anxiety himself. His experience with dinner with a female was very meager. As a matter of fact, the extent of which he's spent casual or personal time with a girl was 5 years ago. With Okudera-senpai. And he only landed that date because of Mitsuha's charm, it wasn't even him that won her over. So needless to say that in his own body, Taki wasn't sure how to act with Okudera-senpai. The date was awful. It was quiet, awkward, and very stagnant. And it was called off early before they could even have dinner. Something that brutally uncomfortable would stick with anyone forever, and Taki was no different. And between that time and now, Taki had no opportunity, nor reason for that matter, to develop any gentleman's etiquette. So of course he wasn't really sure what to do. The worst part was that Taki knew that he should've known sake etiquette of all things, having served this restaurant. But for whatever reason, all of his knowledge escaped his mind. He decided to blame it on nerves.

He took one of the ceramic drinking glasses and poured it full with sake. As he handed it over to his date, she giggled to his confusion. "You've never done this before, have you?"

Taki's fluster levels began to skyrocket, as he quickly began to wonder what he was doing wrong. "Well, I'll show you." She took the bottle of sake with two hands. "Now hold your cup up. With two hands." Taki couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious that he was being given a lesson in sake etiquette by a woman. But after all, Mitsuha had spent a good amount of her youth life making sacrificial sake for her temple. Something he experienced himself while he was switching bodies with her. Mitsuha filled her date's cup full of sake, smiling sweetly. "You never pour into a cup on the table. Always let the recipient hold it up. You do the same if someone is pouring for you," said Mitsuha in a connoisseur's tone.

At first, Taki had felt a little uncomfortable with his mental gaff. But he soon realized that there wasn't anyone here to judge him. The only other person was none other than the apple of his eye. The one that he would love unconditionally, and the one who would do the same, no matter how many stupid things he says or does. Once he accepted this, he relaxed a little and began to enjoy the atmosphere a little more.

Taki very nearly picked up the cup and just drank out of it, but wisely decided to see what Ms. Sake Master would do. Mitsuha picked up the cup with one hand, placing the other underneath it, and gently sipped it. Taki watched carefully and thereafter followed suit. The two silently consumed their pricy beverage, and just looked into each other's eyes. And just like before, the world around them began to slow down. It felt like time had come to a standstill as the two were lost in each other's gaze. Their eyes softened, and the lock in stare continued until Mitsuha placed her cup back on the table. Taki did the same, and realized that the cup was devoid of liquid, as all the sake it contained was now passing through his kidney.

As Mitsuha began to grasp her current setting and the surroundings, she sighed in happiness. A candlelit room, looking out to the Tokyo skyline, drinking some of the finest sake with the one person she held dearest to her heart. And when she realized it was just day one, her levels of bliss and delight exceeded what she previously thought was possible. Her dilemma of being underdressed was now a distant memory, as all she could think about was enjoying her time with Taki.

"I love you, Taki. Get used to hearing that."

"I love you, too, Mitsuha. You already knew that, though."

The server returned from the kitchen almost unnoticed. "I presume you're enjoying the sake?" said the server with a bright smile.

"It's very good, thank you."

"Good. Have we decided on anything to eat?"

The two of them gasped as the realized that they hadn't even touched the menus yet, so they scrambled to see what they wanted to have. But all was well, as the menu had remained much the same as when they worked here 5 years ago. Taki vividly remembered serving most of the items on the menu, being made up mostly of pizza and pasta, with some other Italian staples. Mitsuha herself had a sense of knowledge of the menu, and knew exactly what to order, as did Taki. It was a high-class, very fancy dining room, but what the heck, it was a pizza place at the end of the day.

"May I have a pizza margherita, please?"

"And may I have a pizza capricciosa? Without the artichokes?"

"Certainly. I'll get those started right away."

As the server departed, Mitsuha took another sip out of her ochoko, finishing the remainder of the sake it contained. She placed down the cup, picked up the tokkuri and poured herself another cup of sake, triggering a state of confusion and bewilderment for Taki, who just stared at Mitsuha with a gaping mouth.

"After the first round, the customary rules of pouring can be ignored."

Taki lowered his head in defeat, partially accepting that he would never understand sake etiquette, or fine dining etiquette for that matter.

The time spent waiting for their food to arrive was spent on small talk. Things like their hobbies, their favorite music, and what they do for a living. Just casual questions that didn't reveal too much about themselves. But with every question and answer, the two shared a feeling of knowing less and less about each other than they thought. They thought they knew everything about each other, having lived each other's lives. But some things change in 5 years.

Before they had a chance to unwittingly delve into deeper and more personal questions, their food arrived. Taki was all too sensible to the tantalizing smell of fresh pizzas out of the oven, despite having not worked here for years. The aroma of the pie in his hand carrying them to its destination would tap into his juvenile desires to eat the pizza on the spot. Now he was in a different situation.

The two dined on their meals very quickly, as both were famished from the lost energy during the day, and the waiting they had to go through on top of that. They bid the server adieu and thanked them for the meal, and departed the restaurant. It was slightly embarrassing to think about, but neither of them could help feeling like with every step out of the restaurant, they were heading towards a new chapter in their lives, with each other to go through it with. And the feeling brought a wide smile to their faces.

It was 7 pm and the dinner rush was crazier than it was when they got there. The host, despite appearing overwhelmed by the numbers, maintained his poise, and was somehow able to notice the couple leaving in time for the three of them to throw up hands of farewell.

Taki and Mitsuha made their way to the main road, and from the looks of it, their homes were in opposite directions. They mutually realized this, and turned to each other almost in unison, knowing exactly what the other was about to request.

"About 15 minutes from here by foot and train."

"I'm about 10. But Imouto-chan and Obaa-san are probably home. I'll make the extra trek."

Taki nodded in acknowledgement, and took Mitsuha's hand as they headed towards the train station.

 **Author's note: Of course it takes me about 7000 words to write 2 hours of action. But either way it was fun to write. This chapter was particularly hard since I had to actually do research on dining etiquette in Japan (especially the sake customs). But in doing so I learned a lot about Japanese societal norms, which I'm sure will help me some day. Thank you to anyone and everyone who read my story to this point, it really means a lot to me. I think a week between chapters is good, and the next one will probably have some smut (because I'm raunchy like that). Until then, cheers guys. See ya in the next one.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N (please actually read this time lol): Okay, so because I'm a despicable human being, this chapter's got some smut in it. All of the writing up to this point has been pretty SFW. Well, this chapter definitely won't be. Just a fair warning to anyone who's read to this point expecting a lighthearted romantic fluff-fest (this one's pretty raunchy in comparison).**

"Now boarding. Now boarding. Now boarding."

The station was unusually quiet for a Friday night. Normally, there would be enough people walking through these train stations to rebuild Tokyo if you gave each of them a nail and hammer. Or so it seemed. But the ambiance, or lack thereof, pushed Taki and Mitsuha towards increasing dreariness. They sat on a bench, nearly devoid of any energy, with Taki draping on arm around Mitsuha and the latter resting her head against his body, with one of her own arms hooked around his back and another hand on his chest. It was the most comfortable they'd felt for, well, just a few hours. And all was the same, as the Earth's rotation felt like it had slowed, and time was just lagging along.

Had it not been for the automated PA system, the two may very well have fell asleep on this station bench, who knows for how long.

"Jeez, how long were we sitting here?"

"Just a couple of minutes, looks like. Doesn't look like we missed any trains or anything"

The two walked onto the boarding platform, approaching the decelerating train that would take home. Or at least most of the way. They still had some distance to travel by foot, that being from the station to Taki's apartment. But the old saying goes: 'the best things in life are worth waiting for.' Or is it 'patience is a virtue'? Something like that.

The couple boarded a near empty train with ample choice as to where they would sit. With only a sparse handful of passengers, all being spread out along the train, the two decided to sit towards the back of the train. Their next stop was at least a few stations away, so they figured they might as well pick a place away from everyone else to do whatever they wanted to each other for that time.

"I'm feeling…a little warm right now. It's a funny feeling. But I think we ought to sit in the back over there. Wouldn't wanna attract any…peekers."

"I had a hunch you were feeling that way, too. Glad I wasn't the only one."

As a few passengers disembarked the train, the solitary seats towards the back of the car became more and more enticing, as the decreasing presence of peers afforded them some much desired privacy. But at the same time, the two once again found themselves in a very quiet environment. Despite the noise of the train passing over the rail, anything anyone said at a loud enough volume would surely be heard from as far as halfway across the car. To avoid any curious ears or snooping eyes, the couple kept their voices low, and almost whispered to each other.

"Never thought I'd see the day where these trains are this empty. Hehe. How fitting."

"Isn't it? Wow, we actually have this whole back area to ourselves."

The two took their seats, and stared at the sliding doors to see if anyone else was boarding the train. A few people did, including another couple that looked to be around the same age as Taki and Mitsuha who sprinted into the car with seconds to spare. _Wow, that could've and probably should've been us._ As their fortune would have it, everyone who got on sat further down the car, maintaining Taki and Mitsuha's private area.

Before long, the train began moving, and the two started to get comfortable in their seats. As Taki reached an arm over around Mitsuha towards her far shoulder, he felt her arm reach across his body, and her hand on his outside cheek. She pushed against it, turning Taki's face towards her own. And Mitsuha giggled as she was met with a flushed red Taki.

"Uhh- Mitsuh- "

Mitsuha offered no response, as she reached over his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him into her, and pressed her lips against his, cutting off whatever he was about to say. With his composure diminishing faster than a bullet out of the barrel, Taki abandoned whatever miniscule urge he had to stop Mitsuha. With every second passing, her grip on Taki tightened as her tongue invaded deeper depths of his mouth. Taki rotated his shoulders in a pretty uncomfortable position and reached around Mitsuha's body to take her into his embrace. Anyone who was watching would've seen a very passionate, emotional, and endearing kiss, one that would surely trigger romantic memories anyone would have with their own significant other.

Their minds and their hearts left their corporeal owners and ascended into a higher plane of intimate pleasure. The two entered a trance of absolute infatuation, with their brains being flooded with thoughts of each other. Every ounce of their being and mental capacity was spent on trying to please the other. And of course, they had no idea what was going on around them. Eventually Taki forgot altogether that he was on a train, and Mitsuha's mind had already ditched her the second her lips hit his. At some point, the train turned against the curve of the rail, shifting the entire car. The disturbance was enough to bring them back to the world, but the kiss remained intact and their passion was unstaggered.

Mitsuha peeked one eye open to see if anyone was watching. And to her relief, she saw the few passengers aboard keeping to themselves, either reading a book, listening to music, or gazing out the train window. So she took advantage of the lack of attention to take things to another level, lifted a leg over him, and turned her hips to straddle her boyfriend, who let out a grunt of confusion. With her back to the rest of the car, she prayed that no one turn around and see what they were doing. As the two acclimated to their new position, Mitsuha relaxed her body, and rested more of her weight on Taki. The latter's testosterone levels began to surge profusely, as Mitsuha's chest weighed down against his own. At the same time, as Mitsuha rested her lower body, she could feel Taki come dangerously close to her sweet spot. Now at this point, anyone watching would've been appalled by the obscene display of affection (or turned on, who knows). Aside from the straddling, the whole thing looked innocent. But it was also clear as day that their hormones were skyrocketing.

"The next station is…"

Like a hypnotist's key word, the automated announcement for their stop snapped them out their daze. As their senses fully returned to them, they paused and evaluated the position they were in. Most would have been stricken with shame and embarrassment. But for these two who spent so many years apart, they just smiled at each other with a look that said "That was awesome."

Mitsuha lifted herself off of Taki and returned to her seat for the remaining moments until they would disembark the train. Hand in hand, the couple stepped onto the platform and into the station. Of course for Taki, it was nothing special to him since he passed through it every day. But for Mitsuha, she couldn't help but become stricken with this feeling that she's stepping into Taki's life again, just the way she did 8 years ago. This time she's seeing with her own eyes and not his. And for some reason, it felt really special.

"Well this is a nice part of town! Never been here!"

"I can't tell if you're being serious."

Mitsuha just ignored him and began to observe her surroundings. Even though she'd been in Tokyo for a few years, there were so many parts of the city that she had yet to explore. Her time in Taki's body didn't afford her many opportunities to go around the city she so badly desired in her youth. Most of it was spent commuting to school and going to work, going to sleep and waking up in her own body. And every time she would wake up back in Itomori, she was left with this desire for more. As fun as it was, or as interesting, rather, to go through Taki's life, she left his body every day feeling like she still didn't know anything about this amazing city. On top of that she felt like Taki took the environment for granted, having lived here his whole life. When she set off on her journey to Tokyo to find and meet Taki, she was hoping that he would take her to all these amazing places that she could only dream about. The pain and embarrassment of Taki not recognizing her the first time returned to her, but she quickly dismissed it, remembering that she was here with him now. And he loved her just as much, if not more, than she hoped he would.

As the two made their way from the station to Taki's apartment, he figured it'd be a good idea to whet her curiosity, briefly explaining some of the things they would pass by; things that he saw every day and came to ignore over time, but things he also knew Mitsuha would find interest in.

"I've been going to that basketball court pretty often." He harkened back to the point in Mitsuha's life where she made her a gym basketball phenom. "Sometimes I would feel pretty lonely, and you can only draw things for so long before the solitude gets to you. So this basketball court's been kind of my escape. It's easily one of my favorite parts about this neighborhood."

They eventually made it to Taki's apartment. Along the way, he talked a little bit about his neighbors of note, with the feeling that she would be seeing them multiple times in the future. _I hope you'll be around for a while, Mitsuha_.

"I hope you're not expecting much. My job pays enough, but being single doesn't exactly offer me the luxury of living anywhere spectacular." He turned his key and opened the door into his habitat.

As Mitsuha stepped into Taki's apartment, she immediately found herself fighting off thoughts of where her stuff would go in this tiny apartment. Not only for the sake of not having to plan rearrangement or anything, but also to not risk sending any weird vibes to Taki. _It's so compact. But it feels…intimate._

"It's nothing much. And by that I mean it's literally nothing much. Just a small little space for me, myself, and I. I'm hoping one day, we can…never mind."

"No! Tell me, Taki-kun!" Even though she had a pretty solid idea of what he was about to say, she just wanted to hear it out loud.

"I'm hoping that…one day we can get our own place together. I-I-I know we…technically just met. And I'm not sure how interested you'd be in a life with me."

"Oh, Taki-kun. You're so silly. With everything that's happened in the last few hours…this special time we've spent together…hehe, that tender moment we shared on the train just now…I want that to last forever. I wanna be with you forever. So yes, I am beyond interested in a life with you."

Taki, unable to resist Mitsuha's extreme beauty in the low light, stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, digging his face into the top of her head and intermittently pecking it with soft kisses. Mitsuha responded by snuggling back against her lover. She closed her eyes, released a sigh of pleasure, and raised her arms over her head, reaching back and lacing her fingers around the back of his neck. The dominoes continued to fall, as Taki lowered his head so that it was level with hers, and planted a kiss on Mitsuha's cheek. She took a hand and slowly stroked Taki's cheek, moaning quietly.

"Taki-kun. Undress me."

The words in soft whisper sent Taki into a spiraling state of hormonal hypnosis. His mind melted away, and he let his masculine instincts take over. He kicked the door behind him shut, and began to slowly remove her cardigan. With every inch of the clothing separating from her body, she leaned her head back further and further into Taki, sighing and softly moaning. He then lifted up the bottom of her shirt with one hand, placing the other one underneath it and slowly caressing her stomach. She kept a good figure; her midriff was devoid of any fat, but she wasn't all skin and bones either. Her skin was soft and was warm to the touch, and her stomach was smooth flat. Mitsuha remained still and just let her body melt away into an oasis of intimate ecstasy. Eventually she felt both his hands travel up her stomach and soon enough, they were cupped around her breasts.

"Baka hentai…"

Whether Taki ignored her or just didn't hear her altogether will never be known, but it mattered to neither of them. The two of them allowed their intimate desires to continue to engulf their minds; Taki's hands rhythmically squeezed Mitsuha's breasts, while Mitsuha herself reached back and gripped the hair in the back of Taki's head, resting more weight against his body. The two of them felt their breathing spike in tempo, eventually turning into panting. After having her breasts massaged for a while, Mitsuha decided to make her lover finish the job.

"Ahem…"

"Oh! Sorry…"

Mitsuha raised her arms back up with her patience disappearing. Taki reluctantly removed his hands from her breasts, grabbed the rest of her shirt and pulled it up and out of her arms. After tossing the shirt aside, his hands returned her chest, and his face buried itself into her neck. As great as Taki's hands felt, she knew he wasn't done, and guided one of them towards her midsection onto the zipper of her pants. After undoing its button, he took the 'efficient' route and squeezed one breast with one hand and unzipped her pants with the other. When the zipper reached the bottom, Taki decided to torture his girlfriend and gently flicked his finger over her crotch, which sent her in a frenzy with a very loud moan. Her hands, gripping the forearm of the hand squeezing her breast, tightened and clutched his arm harder, digging her fingers into his skin.

"Taki-kun…you…you are horrible."

Taki again either brushed off her comment or was oblivious to it to begin with. He put his hands on Mitsuha's hips and turned her around so that she was facing him now. After pecking her lips with a quick kiss, he went down to his knees and pulled down on her pants. Taki's heart beat faster and faster as more of her underwear became exposed. As much as he wanted to smother his face with her crotch, he decided to hunker down and get it done. Mitsuha picked her feet up to help get her pants completely off of her, and just like that she was half-naked. Taki then felt a strange sense of imbalance. Seeing that Mitsuha was stripped down to her bra and panties, he felt it was only right to remove his clothes to help her feel more comfortable. His layers came off one by one; first his jacket, then his shoes and pants, and Mitsuha took the liberty of unbuttoning his shirt and removing it herself.

For some reason, it came as no surprise to Mitsuha that Taki's body was well sculpted. While he wasn't overtly muscular at all, his muscles were toned and possessed a lot of enticing contours. That combined with Taki's fair skin created a rather good-looking guy to anyone, not just Mitsuha. But regardless, her body gravitated towards his, and her hands started gliding across his shirtless body.

"I think it's only fair for me to admit…I spent a lot of time staring at you shirtless when I was in your body. I found you extremely attractive. And your body got me hot and bothered…"

Taki just chuckled, as the flattery was something very new to him. No one had ever commented Taki on any of his physical features; he'd always viewed himself as an average person. No one called him ugly or anything, but he'd never been called outright handsome by anyone. So especially coming from a person he found to have unparalleled beauty such as Mitsuha, it meant a tremendous deal to him, and he took the comment to heart and kept it as a confidence booster for a rainy day.

"Hehe. I don't think I need to say what I think of your body. You probably have a good idea already."

"Mmhmm! And even had it weren't been for you groping me in my own body a few years ago, what you did to me just now would've made it pretty obvious too."

"Can you really blame me?"

"Sigh…if you love me as much as you say you do…then no, I can't blame you at all."

Taki embraced Mitsuha, pressing his body against hers. The contact between their skin began to rile them up again. Her breasts against his bare abdomen very nearly triggered an animalistic reaction that he realized could harm her, so he managed to fight off any desires on her body.

"Taki-kun…carry me…you said you wanted to treat me like a queen, right?"

Without hesitation, Taki reached down and lifted Mitsuha's legs out from under her, and soon enough, she was cradled in his arms like a child, and he carried her over to his bed. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder as her eyelids began to weigh heavier and heavier. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she began to ponder. Her bright smile quickly disappeared as she turned to a state of uncertainty. She of course was elated to be able to spend the night with Taki. The thought of cuddling with him and cradling him in her arms stirred her hormones. But even with all these desires to smother Taki influencing her body, she was nervous. It was her first time sleeping with a man. And her desire to have sex with him was met with uneasiness, and a slight fear. Conflicting feelings began to take over her mind, and she realized she had to make a compromise. By the time they were at the bed, she made a choice. She wasn't ready to have sex with him. At least not yet.

"Taki-kun, I…I…I have to tell you something."

"I think I know what it is. You're nervous. Aren't you?"

"I…I…Look. Sweetie. I love you. I want you. Every ounce of my body wants to us…conjoined? Is that the right word? Anyway, I wanna be with you so badly right now. But…I…"

"Say no more, sweetheart."

"It's nothing personal. Believe me, my estrogen levels are sky high right now. I want you as close to me as possible. It just…I…"

"You're not ready yet. I understand. It doesn't have to be now. We have the rest of our lives. I'll wait for you however long."

"Taki-kun…I…you don't understand how much I love you right now. It seems like…even when the words can't come out, you read my mind and know exactly how I'm feeling."

"If you're not comfortable, we're not doing it. That's that. But more importantly…please don't think that I look at you differently. Just because you don't wanna have sex with me tonight. I couldn't care less. The bottom line is that we're here together tonight. Whatever we do is a formality at this point. I just want you with me right now."

 **A/N: Okay, so this is originally going to be way worse. I decided against making it a full-on lemon and kept it at maximum to partial nudity and fondling. The graphic stuff is written somewhere, but for now, it's gonna stay off . I'm a young man in the exiting stages of puberty, and this stuff just runs rampant in my head. If anyone who liked the first 3 chapters felt like this one was totally out of place, please let me know so I can ditch it. This time around, I will actually rely on reviews to decide what the next chapter will look like. I was pretty hesitant on writing something like this, but I wanted to dabble with the art of smutfic. Just to see what it's like. But nevertheless, it was fun to write, and to anyone who read this far, thanks a million. I love these two, and they have my vote for Anime Couple of the Year. Reading and writing about them is fun. So thanks so much for any and all the support, it means a lot. Catch you guys whenever (probably next week). Cheers.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N (again please read lol): so I'm calling this a bonus chapter. In the grand scheme of things, this chapter is pretty insignificant to the big story. By that I mean the rest of the story would go along just fine without this chapter. So this is that lemon I foreshadowed in the previous chapter but decided to hold off on. Again, it's NSFW. Feel free to skip if you're not into that sorta stuff.**

The fatigue began to take a toll on both of them. The long work day, along with dinner and the commute home, drained them of most of their energy. On top of that, Taki's bed became a divine cloud for them to immerse themselves in each other's embrace. So with the remaining strength Taki had, he laid Mitsuha down onto his bed, trying not to get distracted by her mostly bare body. But instead he noticed her sleepiness begin to conquer her as her eyelids were almost shut. Part of him was hoping that she wouldn't fall asleep the moment she hit the bed, so they could cuddle together, maybe kiss for a little bit. But the other part of him was content with admiring her in her sleep.

But just as it looked like she was about to pass out, she stretched out her body, and sat upright, smiling at Taki. Her sleepiness disappeared instantaneously, and she looked wide awake. The sight before him froze him in awe. This immaculately beautiful woman, wearing just a bra and underwear, sitting on his bed with a smile, enticing him to join her in slumber. Something he wasn't sure he'd ever see in his lifetime.

"Lay down, Taki-kun." Her voice was soft and pleasant, but he followed her order like a royal command from an empress. And with a sudden spike in adrenaline, he too felt his dreariness evaporate. He lowered himself onto his bed, slowly becoming entranced by the thought of cuddling with Mitsuha. With his eyes glued to Mitsuha, he positioned himself to lay on his side, arms wide open, inviting her into his hold. But instead of rolling into his arms, she pushed him over onto his back, laying him down flat. She then lifted up one knee and put it on the outside side of Taki, putting one leg on either side of him. Mitsuha once again found herself straddling Taki, and rested her weight on his midsection. She began to run her hands across his shirtless body, feeling every contour of his toned chest and abdomen. Her hands eventually came to a stop at his chest, and began to rub his nipples with her index fingers.

"M-M-Mitsuha?!"

"I'm going to be all over you, Taki-kun."

Taki, having accepted that he wasn't going to have sex with Mitsuha, was confused as to what her intentions were, but nevertheless took it with a grain of salt and accepted it for what it was. He was just happy to be with her. But even so, his eyes became fixated on her voluptuous breasts, and it didn't take a genius to see that, let alone Mitsuha.

"Squeeze them, Taki-kun. Ravage them. Make them feel your passion."

She removed her fingers from his nipples and lowered her body to lay flat on his, stacking her on top of him like pancakes. Their legs were entangled, and their crotches pushed against each other. Taki reached around Mitsuha's back, and ran his hands all over, searching for her bra hooks. When he found them and disengaged them, Mitsuha raised her body back upright, and pulled Taki up with her. She shifted her legs to wrap themselves around Taki's back, and put her arms at her side.

No words were need; the look in Mitsuha's eyes told Taki exactly what she wanted him to do. He put his hands on her shoulders, and slowly slid them down the side of Mitsuha's arms, taking her bra straps with him. As her undone bra lowered and lowered, revealing more and more of her breasts, his heart rate shot up, and his eyes were cemented onto the prize. Her bra straps reached her elbows, and the cups were now below her breasts, revealing them. Taki's eyes widened, and his breathing became heavier. His awareness of his surroundings and every sense other than sight abandoned him, as all that occupied his mind right now was Mitsuha's boobs. Taki had seen them before, but that was back when she was 17 and still growing. Now that Mitsuha was 8 years older, they were fully developed and signified her maturity. Her bust size was easily in the high 80s; tremendously shaped like perfect spheres hanging off her chest. Her cleavage was almost pristine; her breasts didn't squish together, but there was almost no gap between them. And her nipples were the icing on the cake; tender pink and her areolae extended from them almost minimally. It was the most perfect pair of breasts Taki could imagine, and here right in front of him, there was one with an owner who was requesting that he fondle them. He was frozen, awestruck and lacking consciousness. Rendered unable to move at all due to being distracted and absolutely mind-controlled.

"What's the problem? Your hands were all over them just a few minutes ago. With my bra on."

Taki was stripped of his ability to speak, and his exhalation stuttered badly. All Mitsuha did was giggle, and then finished taking her bra off. After tossing it aside, she turned herself around, putting her back to Taki. His hands almost involuntarily clutched her breasts from behind, and as he began gently squeezing them again, Mitsuha grasped the waistband of his underwear, and began to remove it, quickly being met with some difficulty. First of all, she found some particular trouble getting the waistband up and over his elongated cock. It didn't help that she was totally distracted from the sight of it, as she couldn't help reaching in and squeezing it. The band just wasn't flexible enough to stretch wide enough for his cock to come out, and as for the bottom, it would've been a crusade to pull his underwear out from underneath his butt. So Taki decided to make it easier on her, since she had pretty much done most of the work up to this point. He arched his back and lifted his butt off the bed, making it a lot easier to get his underwear off. And like a sword removed from its sheath, his length was on full display.

Mitsuha's breathing accelerated, and she wielded Taki's cock with both hands. While she pinched and twisted his foreskin with one hand and circled her other hand around the shaft, she leaned forward to reach it with her mouth, pulling her breasts away from Taki. Once he lost grip of them, he somehow regained his senses and was able to think lucidly again. He wasn't sure what how, but letting go of Mitsuha's breasts awarded him his brain back, and he began to think about things as Mitsuha's mouth was just about to envelop his cock.

"Mitsuha…wait"

She was almost astounded that Taki had any of his wits about him, let alone the ability to put together coherent words, even as few as he said.

"I…okay now I'm the one needing a moment."

Mitsuha dismounted Taki, and rested by his side. As she too began to have her senses return to her mind, she began to feel the sentiments take place. Taki moved his hips back, positioning himself upright and resting his back against the wall. The two had spent the past few minutes blinded by their own sex drive, incapable of processing anything else around them, let alone the narrative and sentiments behind what was about to happen. But once their minds returned to them, their physical desires gave way to their emotional ones, and they had a moment to stop and think about each other. And the fact that they were about forever brand themselves onto each other. And for two people who would die for each other, it meant a great deal more to them than just a steamy fling.

She let out a long sigh. "Taki-kun…with everything that's happened today…I'm so glad I waited for you. I can't think of a better person to finally make me a woman. I knew you would come back to me someday. I knew we would share this moment together. Now lemme ask you something. Is this your first time? Taki-kun?"

"It is. I swear from the bottom of my heart. I couldn't bring myself to open up to another woman, when the void you left inside was still gaping. And stripping me of any desires. I knew I'd find you again. So I waited. And it paid off in the end."

"I know I said earlier that it wouldn't be tonight. But just from the fact that you were willing to put your own wishes aside to abide to mine…I just felt like it has to be now. I don't know about you. But by having sex with you tonight…I fully, unrelentingly, permanently promise myself to you. I'm without hesitation your woman now. I'm all yours. Always and forever."

"Hehe. Mitsuha. I gave myself to you the moment we found each other on the stairs. The second I knew it was you, I told myself that all my time and energy would be spent making you happy. I knew that no other woman would endure what you went through for me."

"Taki-kun…why would you say that? Now I feel like I'm only…that I'm only…Taki-kun…" Mitsuha began to fight back tears.

"Don't think that way. I don't feel that way about you at all. I know your intentions, and I know what's in your heart. But…Mitsuha…were you with any other man before me? I-I-I know you're a virgin, but were you dating anyone before me?"

"I had my chances. But…this feeling of wanting you…and knowing that you were out there somewhere…always stopped me from pursing any relationship. I just felt like if I were to date another man…I'd be betraying you. Even though I didn't know where you were. Or who you were, for that matter. I didn't wanna risk finding you one day…and not being able to take you into my arms."

"See, you at least had your chances. I…y'know, you would think I would learned something from that date my Okudera-senpai. But I didn't. I was still the same person. The same awkward goofball that no woman found attractive. So with that being said…I owe you a lot of gratitude…for waiting for me. For sacrificing happiness…and never giving up on me."

"See, that's the thing though. You say sacrificing happiness. But in reality…I would never have been happy with another man. My heart knew you would find me. It would've been impossible to give myself to someone else. I would've rather been alone than to be in a charade of a relationship. Just for the sake of having a man to sleep with at night."

Their feelings were splattered all over, as their hearts were completely emptied out. There was no more gray area between them. All the doubts they had about each other's loyalty were eviscerated. And as their throats were stricken with emotion and tears were forming in their eyes, they were overcome with the feeling of relief. That they had found their eternal partner and soulmate. The combined feeling of loving someone so deeply and having that same person return that love with equal intensity put them in a state of unbreakable happiness.

"I don't think you know how much you mean to me. Finding you has changed me. Even with the little time that's passed. I'm happier now than I ever thought I would be. You're the absolute world to me. I love you."

"You're everything to me, too. I'd gladly choose you over everything I've ever had. As long as you're by my side, I'll always have a reason to keeping going. And keep fighting. You will always be safe with me. And I trust you with my well-being. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me. I love you."

The time for discourse ended, as their vows were followed by a warm embrace and a kiss. They remained in lock for a few seconds before Mitsuha lifted a leg over to the other side of Taki. She broke the kiss to look down at their sweet spots, and lifted her lower body up to position her vagina over Taki's dick. But something was wrong. Oh yeah, her panties were still on. She swiftly removed them, not wanting to keep herself or Taki waiting. With all uncertainty out the window, she slowly lowered herself, and felt Taki's tip poke her.

"Taki-kun…I'm…I'm coming down…it's gonna go in…"

"It's gonna hurt. Just don't go too fast. Take as much time as you need to get comfortable."

He took both of her hands with his own, holding her through the whole thing. Giving her the emotional support for the climax of her life. And his too. He expected her to let out a few yelps of pain, but she was surprisingly letting it go smoothly. She slid further and further down, pushing more and more of his cock into her. A little bit of blood ran down his shaft. But any pain she was feeling quickly dissipated, and was replaced by pleasure. Her insides felt divine, and areas she never realized could be so sensitive were being triggered. After what felt like an eternity, all of Taki's cock was inside Mitsuha, and her ass cheeks rested on Taki's thighs.

"It's in…Taki-kun, it's in…it's done…we're one now." Tears poured from her eyes as her most perfect and ideal sex dream had come true. Never mind the fact that it was with Taki, which sent her over the edge, but she felt almost no pain.

"I'm so happy it was you…Mitsuha…that I could have my first time with…"

Mitsuha was able to rest her weight onto Taki, and get comfortable with her pussy occupied. She shifted her weight to her butt, and lifted her legs around Taki. When she got settled, the two synchronously reached around each other; Mitsuha's arms wrapped around Taki's neck, as his went around her body under her arms. Without hesitation, they locked lips for another kiss. Aside from the obvious difference of Taki being inside Mitsuha, the emotions and the passion were much the same as the previous times they'd kissed earlier in the day. Their minds were drowned with each other, and how much they loved each other.

And the night continued on. Their kissing remained, and every now and then Taki would wiggle his hips to move his cock around Mitsuha's vagina, tickling her and setting off a moan. But other than that, they were relatively modest with their sex, perhaps because they weren't experienced, or in Taki's case was afraid he would hurt Mitsuha. Her delicate face somehow made him more careful, more reluctant to do anything sudden. But he was fine with where he was. The two of them stayed in this cowgirl position for a while, perfectly content and not in need of moving or trying something else. They both knew they'd have more opportunities to explore the realm of sex, so for their first time, keeping it where they were was fine with them.

Eventually, the two naturally became tired. They were physically tired, but also emotionally worn. Having their hearts violently spun around every direction possible took a toll. So they mutually agreed to call it a night. And close their eyes to wait for tomorrow. And the rest of their lives after that. As Mitsuha lifted herself off of Taki, they both realized that neither of them came. For such an emotionally vesting event, neither of them released. For most, it would've been a sign of a pretty disappointing session. But the two were just fine with it and didn't think much. They were just happy to be with each other.

She laid down next to him, both lying on their side facing each other. She draped one arm around him and tucked her hand underneath his head, holding his cheek in it. While their legs began to tangle, he nestled an arm underneath her side, and held her face-up cheek with his hand. Their eyes met, getting caught in a deep stare. And once again, they became lost in each other's gaze, and their mind began to race. Both had a slight intention of kissing again, but alas, they lacked the energy to do so. Mitsuha tucked her head down, and buried it into Taki's chest, pulling him tighter and closer to her. With her last breath before entering slumber, she was able to utter out some parting words

"Good night…Taki-kun…I love you."

"Good night…Mitsuha…I love you, too."

 **A/N: Truth be told, I don't think this turned out very well. Writing sex is tough, and it's a totally different monster from writing fluff. Capturing their thoughts and emotions was rather difficult, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that I myself have had sex like once. For right now, it's very unlikely that there'd be any lemon scenes in future chapters; it's just not something I can produce to an acceptable quality (as if this fic is quality at all anyway). But nevertheless, it was fun to write. It presented a new challenge for me and I learned a lot about myself as a writer. As for Taki and Mitsuha, I definitely think that given these two are grown adults, they would've definitely done something a little raunchy soon after they reunited. Besides, they deserve a sex scene; they're adorable together. As always, a huge thank you to anyone who's read this far, you guys are awesome. New chapter will be out soon. See you guys whenever. Cheers.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Alright, smut-fest is over, the SFW fluff returns. Just a heads up for anyone who didn't like the past couple of chapters.**

The bed was soft, like a cloud in the sky. Within seconds, Taki and Mitsuha passed out in each other's arms. And the warmth the two were sharing and being pressed against the other plunged them into a deeper slumber than anything they've had in a while. Among the usual stresses of life that would sometimes keep them up, usually what most deprived them of rest was loneliness. The absence of each other. And the frightening idea of never finding each other. Even when they had no idea who they were looking for. But with all the events that transpired over last few hours, all of those concerns dissipated. And they were just able to melt into sleep.

Mitsuha opened her eyes, met with a little bit of sunlight permeating through the blinds. And of course, Taki's face, just mere centimeters away from hers. For some reason, seeing Taki sleeping put her at ease. He just looked very peaceful and very innocent. She wouldn't dare interrupt his current state of rejuvenation. She turned her head and peered behind her to see his clock read 6 a.m. _How could I wake up this early on a Saturday?_ And then she started to think about what was going on right now.

 _Taki-kun. I'm here. With him. He's mine again… Last night was so wonderful. I was so happy. Taki was so good to me. He's incredible… I want this to last forever._

There really wasn't much she could do at this point; her arms were still wrapped around Taki, and her legs were still tangled with his. Not wanting to risk waking him up, she decided to give into the remainder of her sleepiness and rested her head back onto Taki's pillow. Before closing her eyes again, she pressed her forehead against Taki's and planted a long kiss on his slightly parted lips. With a soft whisper, she uttered out "I love you…Taki-kun".

When Taki's lucidness returned to him, he didn't immediately open his eyes. He needed a moment to realize he was awake, so his eyes opened slowly, with his sight being slightly blurred from having been closed for several hours. And a small smile formed on his face when he was met with Mitsuha's face. Her gorgeous, flawless face.

 _She so beautiful…_

He was almost paralyzed by her magnificence; shivers and chills invaded his body and heart rate began to climb. Never in his life did he ever think someone as beautiful as Mitsuha would share a bed with him. When he regained feeling in his hand, he lifted it and slowly caressed her cheek as she remained in peaceful slumber. Her cheek was soft and warm, much like the rest of her. And he couldn't help to stop to think about how lucky he was to have her as his girlfriend.

 _Mitsuha… my Mitsuha…_

He put his arm back around Mitsuha and snuggled closer to her. As he began to fall back to sleep, he felt a soft sensation on his lips. His eyes opened to investigate, and he saw that it was Mitsuha. She pecked his lips with a quick kiss. And did it again. And again. She did it a few more times before Taki realized that she was probably searching for something in return. So the next time her lips reached for his, he delivered back a longer and passionate kiss. Mitsuha let out a gasp, which quickly turned into a moan, and realized that Taki was awake. When their kiss broke, she opened her eyes to a smiling Taki, piercing her brown eyes with the gaze of his sharp blue eyes. Her body was overcome by a feeling intimacy, and her feminine instincts took over once more.

"Taki-kun…"

Her last words before she took both arms and wrapped them around his head, pulling it closer to hers. She wasted no time sealing his lips with hers, and making her tongue a guest of honor in his mouth. Taki pulled Mitsuha's body closer to him, and the contact between the two of them enveloped them with a tremendous amount of desire for the other. Their hands glided across each other, and their tongues massaged each other slowly. Eventually running out of breath, they broke their kiss and looked into each other's eyes again.

"Ohayo…"

"Ohayo…"

Mitsuha, having woken up with much more energy than usual, rolled over on top of Taki, and dug her face into his, eskimo-kissing him before dropping a more traditional kiss back onto his mouth. Taki himself let his body relax and let Mitsuha work her magic; her kisses, as many as she's delivered within the past 12 hours, didn't fail to captivate him. They stayed this way for a few seconds before Mitsuha's eyes opened with panic. She pulled her face off of Taki's and sat up, gasping out of concern

"Oh my goodness! Obaa-san! Imouto-chan! They have no idea that I'm here!"

"Eh? Oh…I guess you didn't really have a chance to tell them, did you…"

"Oh, they're probably worried sick right now! I- uh- where's my phone?"

They looked around the room for a short while before eventually finding it on the ground. Mitsuha wasted no time dialing the number to her home phone, eager to let whoever answered know that she was okay.

 _Hello?_

"Obaa-san? It's me, Mitsuha!"

 _Mitsuha-chan! Oh, thank the heavens you're okay! How dare you make your grandmother worry this way, where are you?!_

Mitsuha became flustered and mentally scrambled to find answer; the truth would guarantee to rub Obaa-san the wrong way and give her the wrong idea (rightfully so), but she couldn't think of any reasonable or credible reason for not coming home last night, nor did she want to completely lie to her grandmother. It didn't take a genius to see Mitsuha's dilemma, let alone Taki.

Covering the microphone on her phone, Mitsuha let out a loud whisper.

"What should I say? What should I say?"

"Eh? Uhh… just tell her you were out drinking and your friend didn't want you to go home by yourself. So you crashed at their place for the night so that you wouldn't risk anything happening on the way back. It was late, after all."

"Oh! Taki-kun, you're a genius!"

She uncovered the microphone and put it back to her mouth.

"I was just out with friends. And I had a little bit to drink, so I spent the night at their place. So that I would be absolutely safe. They're trustworthy, Obaa-san, they took care of me!"

Taki couldn't help but tickle his ego a little bit after coming up with such a brilliant response. After all, he knew both Mitsuha's grandmother and sister very well since he technically lived with them for a couple of weeks. Which he then couldn't help but think _Wow, I haven't talked to them for 5 years…I wonder how they're doing. Eh. I'm pretty sure I'll find out pretty soon._

 _Well, that was very irresponsible of you, Mitsuha-chan. But…that was very thoughtful of your friends to keep you safe. You never know what can happen late at night. Do I know these friends?_

"You don't…in fact I ju-…I mean…no. You haven't met them before. But you will! Very soon, in fact. I'd like to introduce you and Yotsuha. You guys would really like him."

And almost instantaneously, Mitsuha cringed and realized her mistake, willing to trade a lot of things to undo that last word. Taki himself almost facepalmed. And all Mitsuha could do was brace herself for the storm that was about to come.

 _HE, MITSUHA?! YOU SPENT THE NIGHT WITH A MAN?! YOU ARE SO IRRESPONSIBLE, I AM SO ASHAMED OF YOU! YOU'RE STILL A YOUNG WOMAN, HOW COULD YOU THINK THIS WAS OKAY?!_

"OBAA-SA-…I mean…Obaa-san. I…I wish you wouldn't worry about me like that. I'm 25. Okay? I think I should be free to pursue happiness as I please. And this man…oh, this man is so dear to me. He's so special, and he means absolutely everything to me. Oh, I know you would lo-"

 _I DO NOT WANT TO MEET THIS PERSON! HE HAD YOU DRINK SO THAT HE COULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WEREN'T SMARTER THAN THIS!_

"No! It's not what you think! This is so different from what actually happe-"

 _YOU WILL SEE THIS MAN NO MORE, MITSUHA! I CANNOT TOLERATE A MAN WHO DARE IMPURIFY MY GRANDDAUGHTER LIKE THIS! YOU ARE TO RETURN HERE RIGHT NOW!_

"Wait! Obaa-sa-"

The call ended abruptly, leaving Mitsuha at an absolute loss for words. She stared down at the ground in shock. Her hands trembled, and eventually lost grip of her phone. Before it hit the ground and inevitably shattered, Taki pounced over and took it to prevent its damage. And as he looked at Mitsuha, he was met with a tough crossroads. Selfishly, part of him wanted to tell her that she has nothing to worry about, and that she should just stay with him, and hope that her grandmother would understand one day. But that was it, though. He knows her, and he knows Mitsuha's relationship with her. Hitoha was very traditional and very spiritual, valued purity and connection to the gods greatly. And she was incredibly protective of Mitsuha. This first impression of him on her was not a very good one, and one that would be near impossible to shake from her and overcome. He already accepted in his head that he would never win Hitoha's approval. And he wasn't about to jeopardize their relationship for his own desires.

"Mitsuha…" he took her by the shoulders, trying his hardest to comfort her. But he wasn't sure what to say. He knew Mitsuha wanted to hear something. Just not what exactly it was. He figured the best thing to do was to give her some space and time to think. She probably had a tremendous deal on her mind. But as he started to remove his hands from her shoulders, she stepped forward, closer to Taki. And she pressed her face against his chest and put her hands on his stomach.

"Taki-kun…I'm…I'm going to ask you something…something incredibly selfish. But…this is the only way I can live. And be happy"

Taki looked for something to say, but figured it would be best to just let her propose her request.

"I…would it be too much to ask…to…let me move in here?"

"Mitsuha! I…I can't…"

Mitsuha looked up at him with tears forming in her eyes, obviously not pleased with his reaction.

"Mitsuha…this is crazy. We met…literally not even a day ago. We've spent one night together. We're still getting to know each other. Look…I love you. I love you so much. You're my flesh and blood, and I'd do anything to protect and make you happy. But I think you're over thinking things. Why don't we ju-"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT, TAKI-KUN?! HOW DID WE 'JUST MEET'? WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR 8 YEARS! DID THE LAST 12 HOURS MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?! I HAD…THE MOST INCREDIBLE NIGHT, THE HAPPIEST NIGHT, THE MOST MEMORABLE NIGHT I'VE HAD IN YEARS, MAYBE MY ENTIRE LIFE! I DECIDED IN MY HEAD THAT YOU WERE MY SOULMATE, THE ONE I'D SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH!"

"Mitsuha…do you not think I feel that way too? Believe me. I would…absolutely love for you to move in here. So I can wake up with you in my arms every single morning. So that I can take care of you and make sure you're the happiest woman in the world. Do you really think I don't want that?"

"THEN WHAT'S THE PROBLEM, THEN?!"

"Mitsuha…you…you can't put me before your family…there, I said it. I'm not going to let you jeopardize your relationship with your grandmother for me. I don't want that. Your grandmother loves you so much. And only wants you to be safe."

"BUT SHE TREATS ME LIKE I'M STILL A LITTLE GIRL! Taki-kun…I…I'm sorry. But…you don't see how we live at home."

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea. I mean we switch bodi-"

"I know that. But…the thing is…my grandmother knew the entire time. That we were switching bodies. She said she experienced something like that herself. Many, many years ago. So obviously, when she sees me going through this cycle, she'll naturally act a little differently, just out of reaction to what was going on. So to be honest…as much as you think you know about my family…you don't know anything at all. And I'm sorry if that sounds rude…but you can't decide or assume how my grandmother feels about me."

"Well, how in the world can I be wrong? She loves you, right?"

"She…she does."

"And she wants you to be happy, right?"

"Debatable. Completely debatable."

"Well…okay, this one I know for certain. She just wants to spend as much time with you as she possibly can. I…I don't mean to be grim, or push any sensitive buttons. But your grandmother…probably just doesn't know how many years she has left. And doesn't want to leave anything on the table, you know what I mean?"

Mitsuha stood in silence, in total agreement and slight embarrassment that he was 100% right. And that her argument was countered with seemingly little effort.

"Mitsuha…I want you to be happy. And I know for a fact…that if you were to leave your grandmother on terms like these…you would live with guilt and a feeling of regret forever. Given everything she did for you."

"Taki-kun, I…you…always think rationally. I make so many decisions with my heart and not my head. You…I know now…the right thing to do would be to go back to my grandmother. Thank you for helping me realize that. But I promise! I will stand up for you to her! And I will change the way she sees you! I will fight for you! She'll see how wonderful you are!"

The flatter overcame Taki, and his face softened as he could only look at Mitsuha with a smile.

"I can only hope…I…I heard everything she said. And…I'm not sure…"

"Wait! So you did get the sake just to get me drunk? Did you really just want to take advantage of me?"

"D-…Did you just hear yourself? I…I can't believe that after everything, you'd make that judgement on my character like that…"

"Taki-kun! I…I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that." Tears started to well, and her composure was starting to diminish.

"I'm…I'm so confused right now. I'm so conflicted! I…I just want everything to work out…"

She broke down in Taki's arms, who held her and held her close. He didn't want to see Mitsuha like this.

"Only time will tell. But…time's passing. Best not worry your grandmother any longer."

Mitsuha could only nod as her face was dug into Taki's chest. The two got dressed and made their way to the train station. Taki never used the train on any weekends, so he wasn't sure how it would work. But thankfully, the line that would take Mitsuha home was up and running, with an arrival just about when they would get there. During their walk there, Mitsuha couldn't help but observe her surroundings, as the same walk they took last night looked drastically different in broad daylight. It was like it was a completely different place. And her desire to explore and be here again strengthened.

Before Mitsuha boarded the train, she turned to Taki and pecked a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I will see you again. Don't worry. I'll make this work."

"You do what you need to. Don't worry about me."

"Until next time. My love."

Mitsuha boarded the train and turned around to see Taki once more. To avoid any possible emotional breakdowns from either of them, they decided to just wave at each other before the door closed. And soon after, it did, but before the train could pick up speed and take off, Mitsuha blew him a kiss through the door's window, which he hesitantly returned, not wanting to compromise his masculinity in public. And before long the train was gone. Taki turned around and began to trek back to his home. Unable to help but think. That this may well be the last time he sees her for a long time.

 **A/N: Hey y'all! Hope you liked this chapter. Now, this is where the actual story and some very slight drama starts to come in. I'm just a little disappointed that after 2600 or so words, not really much happened. That's something I'll work on. But the fluff's gotta stay. I think with these two, it's sort of a charm. Given that they had very limited physical contact in the movie, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I left the movie wanting a little more in the intimacy department. So that's how the fluff spawns. Anyway, as always, thank you so much if you've read this far; it's really what keeps me going. School's over soon, so the chapters from here on out should be a little better (by how much, who knows) since I won't have much to worry about. Again, thanks a ton for reading. See you guys whenever. Cheers.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Everything'll be fine. Everything's gonna be okay._

Mitsuha spent just about the entire train ride home thinking to herself, telling herself that everything would work out. But that sliver of doubt in the back of her head plagued all of her positive thoughts. She knew her grandmother was stubborn. And quick to jump to conclusions. Much like most grandmothers. With all of this uncertainty growing, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd seen Taki for the last time. At least for a long time. And the thought of being separated from him again pained her greatly.

 _It's not fair. I went 8 years without him. And now I find him and I'm the happiest I've ever been. Why is he being taken from me? WHY?!_

She acknowledged the fact that within a matter of a few hours, she had become attached to Taki to the hip. He was so deeply engrained in her heart and her soul that pulling them apart would induce unbearable pain on her. And soon enough, her uncertainty evolved into fear and desperation.

 _I need Taki…I need him…what do I do without him?_

When the train announced that her stop would be the next one, her beating heart sent a shockwave through her body that put her in a very weakened state. It wouldn't be before long that she would have to face her grandmother. To try to plead her case and change her mind about her love. Or possibly make a decision. _No…my mind's been made up._ There was no decision to be made; it was already set in stone.She knew that she might have to tell her grandmother something that would shatter her heart. And sever their ties. After so many years together.

 _Taki-kun…just know I'm doing this for you…_

It wouldn't be pretty. There would be tears shed. A lot of screaming and a lot of anguish. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to her grandmother, period. Let alone under circumstances like this. But Mitsuha wasn't about to let herself endure the same loneliness she suffered for 8 years again. Enough was enough. She deserved to be happy.

It took her until she reached the front door of her house to realize that she was placing all of her chips down on Taki. Taking a huge gamble and pushing her entire previous life behind her. Just for this one man. There was no in the world she would know for sure if Taki would be able to take care of her for the rest of her like. At least the way she wished for.

 _He's worth it, though. I don't need my past life._

And as she traversed up the steps of her porch, she stopped to think about what was about to happen. And mentally braced herself for the most emotional conflict she'd ever been a part of.

 _It's all or nothing, Obaa-san._

When she reached for the door handle, she heard a voice from behind her call out. It was a younger girl's voice. One she knew very well.

"ONEE-CHAN!"

Mitsuha peered behind her to see Yotsuha coming up the steps as well. And for whatever reason, she felt like she was seeing her for the first time in a while, too. Perhaps the time she spent with Taki last night felt like it lasted for at least a few years.

"Y'know, I've never been too concerned with what you do on your own time, so it's weird that I'm starting now. Where were you last night?"

"I'm uh…I'm…I'm about to explain everything to Obaa-san."

"Hmmm. Well, are you okay? You weren't, like, hurt or anything, were you?"

"Yotsuha, I…I can't even begin to describe how last night went. It was the most wonderful night I've ever experienced…I honestly had never felt so happy."

"Mmhmm, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm not even gonna begin to think about what you could mean by that."

"Well, what were you doing out, then?"

"I went for coffee with my friends. And you know what, Obaa-san was totally okay with it. Because I actually _told her_ where I was going."

Mitsuha just looked at the ground in guilt. As old and grown-up as Yotsuha was, she was still a granddaughter. And Mitsuha could only feel pretty terrible for putting her grandmother through some grief. But as much as she wanted to make her grandmother feel better, she couldn't shake her decision. She couldn't go back on her promise to Taki. Or the promise to herself, rather.

 _I'm sorry, Obaa-san. But it's time for me to make my own decisions._

Her first sight after she pulled the door open was none other than her grandmother. Sitting down and watching the morning news. The noise of Mitsuha's entrance attracted Hitoha's attention. So when her eyes met with Mitsuha's, she felt all sorts of feelings of relief, but the only one she could express was disappointment. She stared coldly and Mitsuha, who just looked at the ground as she made her way over to where Hitoha was sitting. The sharp gaze persisted, and only cut through Mitsuha more sharply when their eyes met again.

"What happened to you, Mitsuha? What happened to my wonderful granddaughter? Hmm? The one who wouldn't engage in such…barbaric activities. Staying out late. Drinking until you can't think. SLEEPING AT ANOTHER MAN'S HOUSE! I never thought you could disappoint me like this."

"Obaa-san…I…I should have told you. And I'm very regretful about that. I'm sorry that I didn't let you know where I was going."

"I don't think you realized how much I worried. Mitsuha…I hope you know that you and Yotsuha are all I have left. We don't have our traditions anymore. We don't have our shrine anymore. None of what I had before is here any longer. I do not like this new world I've been forced into. I would at least hope that you could respect that. And not leave me in a state of concern. Like the way you did."

"I…you're right. I should've told yo-"

"You shouldn't have gone out in the first place. Your place is here with your family. Who else will take care of you like this? Who else will always support you?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you abou-"

"If this is about that man…there is nothing to discuss. I'm going to make myself very clear, Mitsuha. You will no longer come in contact with that…that…mongrel."

"Obaa-san…with all due respect, you could not be any more wrong about Taki."

"His name means nothing to me. All I need to know about him is that he tainted you. And marked you with shame."

"He did not taint me, Obaa-san!"

"Do NOT raise your voice at your grandmother. Have you no respect? Or did that degenerate strip those from you, too, along with your honor and self-discipline?"

"Obaa-san…I…I don't know what to say."

"I do. You should be saying 'Obaa-san, I apologize. I committed a very dire sin, and will never perform anything so toxic ever again'"

Mitsuha's frustration and angst began to climb; her eyebrows furrowed and her hands clenched into fists, all without her even realizing it. Even as old as Hitoha was, and as long as Mitsuha subjected herself to her family's traditions without question, and obeyed her grandmother's wishes, she continued to exhibit stubbornness and close-mindedness. She had so many things prepared in her head to plead Taki's case, and undo her grandmother's impressions of him. But she decided to abandon it altogether. And rip the Band-Aid off.

"If that's how you feel, and if that's your idea of having me live the rest of my life, stuck in a cage and attached to feudal traditions for the rest of my life…then I'm leaving."

The words crushed Hitoha's heart like a hammer. Mere moments after being relieved of the grief and stress of not knowing where her granddaughter was, she was struck with the thought of her granddaughter disappearing forever.

"M-…M-…MITSUHA!"

"I'm done…I've made up my mind…you've kept me on this leash for too long. I've been tied down to the point where I'm suffocating. My life…is so colorless. In Itomori, it was tradition this, tradition that. And we move out here. And for 8 years…"

"THOSE WERE YOUR FAMILY CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, MITSUHA! ARE YOU TO ABANDON THEM WITH NO REMORSE?"

Hitoha's voice inflection was a very unique combination of pleading and desperation with fury and anger. It wasn't anything that Mitsuha had ever heard before. Of course they would get into their debates. About how Mitsuha should be living her life. And how many times her requests to be more open and more outgoing were shot down by her traditionalist grandmother. But after meeting Taki, she had enough. When the memories of the sake ceremonies replayed in her head, it all but reinforced her disdain for her past life. That kind of humiliation. And she realized that it wasn't just Taki she was missing. It was the color, the variety, the excitement. And Taki brought all of those to her. So the idea of leaving everything behind to live a more stimulating life seemed that much more enticing to her. But even so, what Taki said to her earlier came charging in from the back of her head. And then the severity of leaving her grandmother and the emotional repercussions started to battle her instinctual desires.

 _What if Taki was right, though? What if I can't shake off the guilt?_

"Mitsuha…you dare leave your grandmother…after everything done for you…after everything that was provided for you and all of the love and support you could've asked for…you're willing to throw it all away? For a man who will not take care of you?"

"Obaa-san…I tried to tell you. I want to be able to explain to you everything about Taki. How amazing he is, how happy he makes me. And above all, how capable he is of taking care of me forever. Obaa-san…this is…this is the boy I was dreaming with so many years ago. To you he may be a complete stranger…but to me, he's been my best friend and my partner for years. I know his intentions and I know what's in his heart. He loves me, and I love him more. I may never find anyone like him ever again."

Suddenly, Hitoha began to remember when she herself experienced the dreaming phenomenon. And the bond and friendship she'd established with the other person. How well they meshed together. But with that, the feeling of regret of not being able to meet the other side of her dream returned to her. She knew she could've been very close friends with this person, but never got the chance to. The feeling of resentment towards Taki was still strong, and she deep down resented the idea of them being together. But she also realized that Mitsuha was now at the point in her life where she deserves to find love.

 _I see. She was able to find that person after all. Well. Who would I be to take that away?_

"Well, then, Mitsuha-chan. If that's what you really want, if that's what your heart truly desires…then I cannot stop you. You do as you wish."

"Obaa-san…"

"When you get to my age, sometimes you become oblivious to certain things. Like how fast your grandchildren can grow up. If you truly don't need your old grandmother anymore…"

"It's not that I don't need you, Obaa-san! I just…"

"It's alright, Mitsuha, I understand. I just can't take care of you anymore."

Now all of the sudden, she wanted to just stay with her grandmother and comfort her. And to not abandon her. For all of the time she just spent arguing and resisting her, all of her now wanted to just end the quarrel and go back to the way things were. And she wasn't sure why. So she wasn't sure what to say. Just a minute ago, Hitoha was stomping on everything she had to say, and now almost out of nowhere, she was fine with her leaving to be with Taki? _What made her change her mind?_

"Obaa-san, I'm not leaving, I'm…I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"Oh, Mitsuha. Don't make this any harder on your old grandmother. I'm already having a hard enough time letting you go as it is. Go. Go on."

The tears began to form in both their eyes. They'd spent so much time with each other that they had almost lost track of how many years had gone by. And perhaps the day that they would separate came faster than either of them had anticipated. And unsurprisingly, neither were ready. Nor willing to accept that reality. But oddly enough, Hitoha had underwent a complete change of heart. Despite every ounce of her heart and body wanting Mitsuha to stay with her, she knew it wasn't fair to inhibit her maturation anymore. She was 25 now. Similarly, Mitsuha knew it was time too. Her familial attachment to her grandmother made the current moment much more difficult. After this was someone who had taken care of her for about 13 years now. But she loved Taki too much to wait. She wanted him, and she wanted him now.

Deep down, they both knew that it wasn't goodbye. So that made it a little easier.

"Obaa-san…I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mitsuha-chan. I'm sorry for being so stubborn. I guess my granddaughter was growing up a little faster than I would've liked. I blame old age."

"I…you will love Taki. I promise you. I will show you how amazing he is. And…you'll…I hope I'll be able to see how happy you are that he's your grandson-in-law."

Hitoha almost winced. Taken aback that Mitsuha had already set her heart of marrying this man. The man that, despite Mitsuha's pleas, poisoned and corrupted her beloved granddaughter. Someone who would never ever be fit to bear a place in the Miyamizu line. But even so, deep down, she was hoping she would be proven wrong.

"Only time will tell." Hitoha let out a weak smile, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew every parent at some point goes through this. In fact this would be her second time. But of course, her own daughter was no longer with them. Maybe that's why it was so much harder this time around.

Mitsuha ran out of things to say. Hitoha was almost inconsolable at this point. She figured it would be best to carry on and make her way out. So she collected some of her belongings, like her phone charger, clothes and accessories, and some other personal items. When she was exiting the house, she looked back at her grandmother, who was despondent and in need of some solitude. She figured best thing to do would be to move on and give her time. And perhaps try to reach out to her in the future. Whenever that may be.

Without even thinking, her body carried itself to the subway station, instinctually intent on finding Taki. And she couldn't help but smile knowing that it wouldn't take 8 years this time. She had his number after all.

Ultimately, Mitsuha accomplished what she intended to. She made it very clear to her grandmother what she ultimately desired, and that it was time that she pursue it. And not be held down by attachments to the past. But despite the relatively tranquil departure, she knew deep down that she'd hurt her grandmother. That level of grief and resistance was new to her. She'd never seen that from Hitoha before. Even with her words of approval in the end, she thought maybe it was just a veil of emotions. To rip off the bandage and make the pain dissipate quicker. And before long she began to wonder if her grandmother would ever speak to each other again. Her heart starting screaming at her, hoping that she would be proven wrong.

 _Maybe I'm not ready for this. Maybe I rushed things._

But it was too late. The damage had already been done. Her grandmother was now in a very vulnerable state. Any more hits to her already fragile heart would irreversibly destroy her. And Mitsuha knew she was horrible with saying the right thing. In most cases, even when she's stable. But in very sensitive situations like these, there's no way she can win. Not with the way she is emotionally.

But somehow in the midst of all this heartfelt haywire, she remembered she never said goodbye to Yotsuha. _Yotsuha!_ So she turned around, following her heart, and took steps out of the station. She just about made it to the entrance before, as if on cue, she received a text message from none other than Yotsuha.

'Hey, big sis. Well, the tension in the house is pretty high right now, thanks a lot. But for what it's worth we all know deep down that you're not really going away. You're just moving into a new part of your life that's all. No matter what you might think Obaa-san and I will always love you and support you. No matter what. I'll see you whenever, onee-chan.'

The burden coming off of Mitsuha's heart and shoulders made her feel weightless. Even when she knew in her heart that she wasn't going away forever, seeing that her only other family understood relieved her in a way she never knew existed. So with that, she found the courage to get in touch with Taki again. For what was only about a half hour since they last saw each other, her heart craved him like a starved animal. This insane feeling of deprivation intensified. With haste, she called Taki.

 _Hello? Mitsuha?_

Her heart fluttered when he picked up. The very first dial tone was cut off, which all but meant that he was waiting for her to contact him. Which made her very, very happy.

"Taki-kun…I…I need to see you right now. I need my Taki."

 _Wherever you are, I'll race there. Where are you?_

"Actually. I had a place in mind. Would you mind meeting me somewhere?"

Somehow, in his heart, Taki knew that he would be coming here with Mitsuha at some point. The morning after, though, was a little sooner than he'd expected. It was the café that he'd spent so much time with with his friends in high school. The spare moments between the end of school and his shift at the restaurant were spent here. And of course, he knew Mitsuha was familiar with this place too. Having spent a great amount of Taki's money here. And putting unnecessary pounds on him. In fact, he'd almost come to not like the place altogether. But the sentiments still persisted. The memories of him and his friends. And of course, this was a place that connected him and Mitsuha, ultimately.

As he approached the outside patio area, he found his beautiful girlfriend, standing and waiting. They greeted each other and without even having a chance to stop themselves met lips for a kiss. It was Saturday, so of course the café had a slightly above moderate level of traffic. Which meant a little bit of a wait. So Mitsuha nestled herself under Taki's arm, placing it around her shoulders, and leaning her head against the side of his chest. Taki himself rested the side of his head on Mitsuha's, and they stood like that for the time until a table cleared up.

And in concordance with the weekend, it was that table. The one in the very middle of the building that Taki, and Mitsuha for that matter, would sit and kill time with his friends. Sitting down here brought back memories, and somehow brought Taki and Mitsuha closer.

"This is the first time…we're here together."

"I know…I know"

Mitsuha scooted her chair right next to Taki's, and pulled out her phone.

"Taki…this is our first picture together."

"I know. Let's make it count."

They leaned closer together to fit in the view of the front-facing camera, and in one take, Mitsuha took a perfect selfie of the two of them. By others' standards, they were both attractive individuals, but something about being together in one picture made them shine and glisten more than normal.

After admiring it for a few seconds, Mitsuha proceeded to send the picture to Yotsuha. With a short caption with it:

'Please show this to Obaa-san. Let her know I'm in good hands. You both will love him.'

 **A/N: Alrighty, fellas. That's enough of the serious story. For now. There was about a hundred different ways I wanted to play this out, but for some reason this one was the one my fingers put out. I wasn't sure about making her grandma a grouch. She definitely didn't seem that way in the movie. But then again, I thought maybe the embitterment of Mitsuha's mom dying and her dad leaving would make her behavior in this chapter make sense. This chapter was actually really hard to write, since it was pretty serious in tone, and ultimately not really that much happened. Again, just something I'll work on. As always, thank you so much if you've read this far. The drastic shift in setting and tone probably killed off any consistency this fic had. But oh well. I wanted to thank everyone for 20 likes and follows, it's definitely a number I never thought this fic would reach, but it's given me fuel to keeping pumping these out. Hopefully with school out of the way, the quality on these will improve at least slightly (it can really only go up from here). Again, thanks a ton if you've read this far. It means a lot. See y'all in the next one, whenever that is. Cheers.**


	8. Chapter 8

Of course Mitsuha ordered an enormous slice of cake. Despite her petite frame, she was a big eater, and knew no bounds when it came to portions. Taki's body experienced this first hand during their time dreaming, making him wonder how she was able to stay so skinny.

"I see the way you eat hasn't changed, Mitsuha."

"Hmm?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing! It's just…I know how much you liked food, and I thought, you know…I think it's endearing in a way."

"If I didn't know you so well already, I would've totally fallen for that cheap line. But no, Taki-kun. I know you just said that the save yourself. So nice try."

"Hehe, well, in most cases that would probably be true. But I mean it though. To me, if anything, seeing that you haven't changed all that much…it reminds that you're still the same girl I loved so many years ago."

And with that, they both sort of looked at each other with an amused look. It was corny, and they both knew it. They figured that even with the little time that had passed, their relationship had evolved beyond cheap, cheesy one-liners. And that such things were just out of place between the two of them. So they just started laughing.

They'd done pretty much everything a couple could do. They talked, they had dinner, they opened up to each other, they engaged in more explicit activities. But the one thing they never did together was share a genuine laugh. So how fitting that it took something as stupid and cliché as a bad one-liner to evoke a hearty laugh. And for whatever reason, it brought them closer once more. More than they were before, if that was even possible.

When they returned to a more neutral state, Mitsuha couldn't help but let Taki knew how bad what he said was. "You…you may be smooth, Taki-kun. But that was bad."

The two finished up at the café, and made their way out to the street to figure out what to do next. It was Saturday, early afternoon at that. So the possibilities were numerous. Of course they could do something recreational. Perhaps go hiking somewhere, visit a temple, or just venture around the city in general. But they both had some ulterior desires they were hesitant to share, out of fear of rushing things. Even though they were a lot farther along after one night than most other couples. Part of Taki wanted to take her searching for a new place to live, since his current one would have trouble accommodating the two of them. While Mitsuha partly wanted to bring Taki back to her house and introduce him to her grandmother. To bridge the gap and bring some closure to her. And to prove to her she was in dependable hands and had nothing to worry about.

But the reality was that it hadn't even been a full day since they met again. And given what happened in the last 16 hours or so, they figured it'd be best to enjoy the weekend with each other. And worry about the rest of their lives later. Besides, what else are weekends for?

"Taki-kun. How 'bout we go sight-seeing? Remember when you promised me to show me around the city?"

"I don't remember saying that, but okay. I'm down for whatever. As long as I'm with you."

Of course Mitsuha had been so disillusioned by spending time with Taki that her desires had created false realities in her head. She wanted to explore Tokyo so badly with him that her mind just told her that he would do so. But to him, it was no problem. Any way he could be with her, he would take without question.

"Wait…you never said that?"

"I don't think so. But how 'bout this, Mitsuha. Let's cover every square inch of Tokyo together. I'll be your guide."

Mitsuha eagerly hooked her arm around Taki's and leaned her head against it. "Show me the way, then."

Taki's natural affinity for art, particularly free-hand drawing, gave him a deep appreciation for the animated works. So of course, he possessed a fondness for anime. Maybe not so much as a medium of entertainment, but rather as a means of expression through art and drawing. Perhaps the thing that impressed him the most was being able to capture emotions and thoughts through facial expressions and details alone. A quality that wanted to learn so badly, but never having the inspiration, or a model to practice off of. _Well. Good thing I have as good a model as they come now_.

Even though he did feel a little weird about it, he regardless took her to Akihabara, the anime capital of the world. Media, merchandise, and followers of this rapidly expanding hobby were present as far as the eye could see. And despite its social reputation, especially on an international scale, Taki never felt any reservation of this hobby or any reason to feel wrong about liking anime. Physically, he didn't fit the stereotypical weeaboo at all; he was tall, fit and very good-looking. And with someone as pretty as Mitsuha at his side, he knew no one would dare question him socially. So he felt no worry about bringing his new girlfriend into a place like Akihabara.

For Mitsuha, her whole life was wholesomeness and connection to the spiritual world. The extent of which she watched media of any sort was the news for just about an hour. The rest of her time was spent reading and helping her grandmother around the house. So having virtually no exposure to anime, there wasn't any way she could have any preconceived associations of the hobby to…extreme themes and societal clichés. Besides, she was holding hands with a rather dashing man, by anyone's standards. She felt no reason to be judged at all. Besides, this whole thing was a new experience to her, something she wanted from the start. Who would she be to question it, especially when Taki's the one leading her through?

"Mitsuha. I don't think I've ever told you this. But I'm actually very into anime."

"I figured. Otherwise you wouldn't bring me here. Taki-kun."

"I guess so. But it's weird. I'm 22 years old, still watching cartoons. Sometimes, I just feel like I never grow up."

"Well, I won't hold it against you or anything. Besides, you've got a lot of other things going for you. You're smart, you're handsome, have a good job… And! You've got a beautiful girlfriend on top of all of that." Mitsuha closed her eyes, put her hand under her hair, and pushed it outward.

"Yeah…I definitely do. Don't I…"

By the way Mitsuha grabbed Taki's hand and pulled him with her into the church of anime, it would've seemed like she was the one who brought him here. Taki himself had only been here a few times before, with the last being when he was still in high school. It's changed since. So he felt like he was just as unfamiliar with this place as Mitsuha.

The two made their way through the shopping district, with their eyes drawn to just about everything. They made a stop at just about every store, all marketing and selling goods for a wide variety of shows. Taki would briefly explain some of the ones that he was familiar with, shared some recommendations and kept a personal tab of ones he'd one day watch with her. She seemed very open and actually eager to experience this form of entertainment herself.

But the thing that struck Mitsuha the most about Akiba's environment was the expressiveness. There were cosplayers and maids up and down the walkways, and also people maybe on the more conservative side, just wearing t-shirts or accessories of their shows of choice. For someone who spent a lot of her youth life wanting to escape the publicity of her sake ceremonies, Mitsuha realized that there wasn't any reason to be embarrassed about anything. Some of these people were wearing complicated and at times ridiculous outfits, not giving a single care in the world. So if these people could decorate themselves like this, why did she feel so insecure about wearing her traditional outfits?

By the time they made it back out to the train platform, the sun was almost setting, giving a pretty good indication on how much time they spent in there. They somehow managed to make it out of the mile of shops having spent minimal money, as Taki only bought a phone charm for Mitsuha. He remembered coming here having saved at least ¥20000 and not thinking it would be enough to buy everything he wanted. Part of growing up, he supposed.

"Taki-kun, that was so cool. I…thank you for bringing me here. I honestly didn't think anime would be cool at all. But it…seems to bring a lot of people together. And bring out the most expressive and creative parts of people."

"It does. I've never been one to really dress up or anything. But it's always cool to see the work people put into the craft."

"Taki, you're so good at drawing! I think you could make a pretty good…uhh…what was it called? Doujinshi?"

"Oh. Fan-made manga? Huh. I've always had ideas, but…I never really had the patience or even motivation to get into it."

"Well, then. I'll be your inspiration. I think what we've been through together would make a really cool story. Y'know, with the body switching and all. Just twist it a little and I think you've got a pretty good manga."

"Maybe. Someday, when I have time."

They grabbed a quick bite to eat near the station before heading up to the platform. And invariably, the dilemma that sat in the back in their minds came forth, and neither really knew how to address it.

"Taki-kun…I know I might be asking for a lot. But I want to stay with you again tonight."

"I don't mind at all. But…I would like to think you'd want a change of clothes or something."

"Taki, I…I'm…I don't want to face my grandmother right now. She might still be recovering and…I don't want to do anything to hurt her further."

"I understand. But wait. Don't you just need something to sleep in? Like pajamas or something?"

"Ew, Taki, ew! What about the next day? I don't wanna wear the same thing twice! And besides…I was hoping we could maybe go for a scenic hike tomorrow. And I don't wanna wear this on the trail."

"Oh, a hike? I'm down! But…if that's the case, then…you should probably head to your house to get something to wear. And now that I think about it…I think if you go to your grandmother tonight, and show that you haven't completely left…then she'll have nothing to hurt over."

"I…I…oh! You come with me, then. Oh, that's a brilliant idea! I can show you to her! All her wrong impressions of you will go away! She won't worry about anything if she sees how great you are!"

"Wait, Mitsuha. Doesn't she think I'm just some guy who-"

"But you're not, though! And it honestly won't take much for her to realize that. Just…you would really just have to be yourself. Then she won't think negatively of you anymore."

"I still think some time needs to pass before I meet her. But if you really think it'll settle everything, and bring peace to her…then I'm all for it. I'm in this for you, after all."

Mitsuha reached her lips up and pecked Taki on the cheek.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Taki. I'm confident that she'll come to like you before tonight is over."

The mood during the train ride and subsequent walk to Mitsuha's house was strange. It was a rather awkward combination of optimism and doubt. Never had either of them felt such conflicting feelings in unison that strongly. For all the talking that Mitsuha did at the Akiba station, she knew deep down that nothing was for sure.

The lights were still on, so somebody was awake. As they approached the front door, Taki took Mitsuha's hand into his, giving her the support she could well possibly need. When they opened the front door and walked in through the opening, they were met with the sight of just Hitoha. Sitting at the kotatsu, despondent and seemingly out of touch with the corporeal world.

"O-…Obaa-san?"

The sound of her granddaughter's voice broke Hitoha from her near catatonic state. And the roller coaster of emotions that followed hit her rather harshly. The joy of seeing her beloved Mitsuha was quickly followed by hostility to the man currently clutching her hand. Despite Mitsuha's pleas, she could only see him as the man who soiled her granddaughter.

"Obaa-san…this is Taki. The man who claimed my heart."

Taki let go of Mitsuha's hand and approached Hitoha cautiously. Once he was close enough he bowed down to her.

"Hello. I'm Tak-"

Before he could finish introducing himself to Hitoha, she used what little physical energy she had left to land a loud slap across his face.

"OBAA-SAN!"

"HOW DARE YOU BRING THIS BEHEMOTH TO ME, ESPECIALLY WHEN I DEMANDED THAT YOU NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN!"

And with that the harsh reality hit Mitsuha. With age comes the decay of memory, but she never thought it would happen this soon, especially to someone as wholesome as Hitoha. No one's immune to it, though, and it always seems to catch everyone off guard. She had completely forgotten what she said to Mitsuha earlier in the day. Taki himself felt helpless as there wasn't anything he could do to relieve the tension, and could only wait for Mitsuha's next move.

Mitsuha began to cry as she ran up to her room. "Wait outside for me, Taki-kun! I'll be right out!"

When his eyes stopped following Mitsuha up the stairs, they met again with Hitoha's, who shot a cold stare into them, with an expression that coincided with Mitsuha's request. No words were needed; the look on her face was as good a 'get out' as any words could express.

Taki wanted so badly to appease her, and relieve the resentment she has towards his relationship with Mitsuha. On top of that, he himself had a bit of an emotional attachment to her, given the time he spent in Mitsuha's body and how much he learned about the Miyamizu culture from her. In a way, she was his grandmother too. So this immense revilement toward him cut him deeper than maybe he realized.

Meanwhile upstairs, Mitsuha was furiously packing clothes and other belongings into a bag. _How could she?! How could she?!_ Her normally iron-hard composure melted away, and the emotions of the whole situation were at the steering wheel. She sprinted down the steps, completely unaware that Yotsuha was standing at her own door, watching the whole thing unfold. On the ground floor, she stormed towards Taki, grabbing his hand and taking him with her towards the door.

Without looking back, she left her grandmother with a loud "goodbye, grandmother" and slammed the door shut. Hitoha, now emotionally and mentally drained, returned to an almost dormant state.

Mitsuha pulled Taki for a few meters before he finally stopped her in her almost hypnotic state.

"Mitsuha, what is this?"

"If she doesn't accept our relationship, there's no need for her to interfere."

"Mitsuha…wha-…this…this isn't like you. You…you don't make brash decisions like this. You're so much more calculative and composed when it comes to decision making. You…do you realize you just threw away everything you had with your grandmother? Just for me?"

"Taki-kun…you don't understand. Just this morning, she said she accepted us! And now…"

"I won't let you end things like this with your grandmother. She's your family. And you can't do this to family."

"Taki…I…I plan on one day making you my family."

"Mitsuha…"

"Besides. What's done is done. There's no point in trying to salvage anything now. Everyone's exhausted."

Taki sighed in defeat, realizing that she was completely right. "I guess…all that's left to do is head back. It's late. And I imagine you're just as beat as I am."

"I'm in the mood to relax right now. Perhaps if you're not too sleepy, we can watch some of those shows you were talking about earlier."

"We'll see."

When they returned to Taki's apartment, Mitsuha began to unload her belongings from her duffle bag. Before he knew it, his closet was now dominated by Mitsuha's outfits, and his bathroom sink was conquered by her various cosmetics. For most, it would feel pretty invasive, but for Taki it was different. Obviously because he loved Mitsuha so much, he wanted to take care of her whenever she needed. But he also believed that the current rift between her and her grandmother was his doing. So he accepted the responsibility of housing her during her need of distance from her. He looked down at his wrist, still tied with Mitsuha's braided cord, his eternal reminder of who he ultimately promised himself to.

Taki grabbed his laptop and sat on his bed with Mitsuha. They sat side by side, with Taki's arm around her shoulders, while Mitsuha rested her weight on Taki and laid her head on his shoulder.

"So what are you feeling? Drama, rom-com, slice of life…"

"I…hmm…how about a rom-com? It'd be a nice break from…what we're currently going through."

Taki concurred and pulled up _Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigaitteru_. Although maybe not a personal favorite of his, he found it amusing nonetheless. It was an older anime that had a sizable following in its prime, and delivered one of the most unique perspectives of high school romance. In his youth, he watched this to tell himself that he wasn't a complete loser.

They made it through a couple episodes before Mitsuha's eyes were almost closed. So he shut off the laptop and placed it on his nightstand, reaching over and turning out the light. He shifted both of them downward so they were laying down flat. Mitsuha, with the remainder of her lucidness, rolled onto her side, facing Taki and putting her arm over him. And almost instantly, she knocked out, not even able to wish her boyfriend good night. Before descending into his own slumber, he planted a quick kiss onto the top of Mitsuha's head, and snuggled closer to her.

 _Oh yeah, we're going hiking tomorrow._

 **A/N: And hello friends, welcome to a tradition unlike any other, the crappy author's note at the end of every chapter. So with my first week of summer, I was able to really set in stone what direction I wanna take this fic. Keep reading to see what it is. Nah, I'm just kidding. But that being said, I wanted to give a sincere and genuine thank you to all the feedback I've gotten (especially to a certain few readers, you know who you are). Seriously, the reviews helped a lot in figuring out how the rest of the story is gonna play out, and with so much more I have in store for these two, having a consistent style is gonna make it a lot better (I hope). It's been almost 2 months since I dropped the first chapter, and I honestly did not think I'd still be putting out more. But these two are my OTP, and I'm always gonna have stuff in my head about them, so why not put it out there, I guess. So as always, to anyone who's read this far, thank you so much for the time of day. Out of all the things you could be doing with your day, you chose to read my story, and that means a great deal to me. Mad props to anyone still reading, and as per usual, I'll see y'all in the next one. Cheers.**


	9. Chapter 9

_Taki-kun! Can you hear me?_

 _Mitsuha?_

Perched on the rim of the second crater of what used to Itomori was Taki. All by himself, disoriented but beckoned to by a familiar voice.

 _Mitsuha! Mitsuha, where are you?_

 _Taki-kun! I'm right here! I, I think you're right in front of me, but I can't see you!_

He reached out in front of him, hoping that he would feel something. And very faintly, a weak presence touched him back. It wasn't much, and it was fading fast, but what else could it be?

 _Mitsuha! Mitsuha!_

Taki took a second to blink, and he opened his eyes to Mitsuha standing in front of him. But this was younger Mitsuha. The 17 year old Mitsuha he met in this spot.

"TAKI-KUN!"

And they lunged at each other, and took tight hold of each other.

"Not letting you go this time. Not again."

Neither of them knew how they ended up back here. Or why. But the situation was all too familiar. And perhaps some missed steps set stage for a miserable few years without each other. They thought for sure this time they wouldn't go through the same thing.

But the magic of twilight was confusing. Tricky. And in some cases cruel. Before they could savor each other for very long, they saw each other begin to fade.

"Taki? Taki! Wha- what's happening?"

"Mitsuha! You're fading! H- wha- Mitsuha!"

In their own eyes, they themselves were fine, but the sight of seeing the other disappear evoked feelings of grief and fear. Feelings they thought they deserved to be spared of forever. So they gripped each other. Harder. Tighter. Trying in vain to keep the other where they were. But when they realized they couldn't reverse what was happening, they just looked each other in the eye. Not with sadness. But with vindication.

"I don't know why this is happening again. But I will find you again, Mitsuha. No matter what."

"Ha! I bet I'll find you first!"

And the two shared one final laugh before being indefinitely separated. For the second time. When the other disappeared, the lights of twilight enveloped their surroundings, and bathed them in a myriad of colors, brightening into an overwhelming white. Which brought them back to the world they belonged in.

They opened their eyes with a gasp. And they found themselves back in Taki's apartment. Lying in his bed, holding each other. The first thing they saw was the gaze of the other, and when they realized that it was just a dream, the relief triggered emotions they thought they would've been immune to by now.

"You too?"

"Yeah…me too."

And their eyes were glued shut with tears and their foreheads connected like magnets. It was all a dream. And they sure were happy that it was. Neither of them were close to prepared to go for who knows long without each other.

So they kissed. For a while. And for some reason, it felt the same as it did the first time. The spark and passion were still there. But maybe that was because of the circumstances. They didn't care though.

"Taki-kun…how many times have you had that dream?"

"It…it's actually the first. And that was the first time I saw that crater since I came looking for you so many years ago."

"I think…if we keep seeing these dreams…we need to do something. There's no reason for us to experience this every night. Maybe…maybe something back at the crater will tell us. There might be a way to figure this out if we head out there."

"I couldn't agree more. It…that dream hurt…a lot."

"I bet it did. I didn't make me feel very good either."

"Well then. All the more reason to do something fun. Get it out of our system. Did you still wanna go for a hike today?"

"Of course! It'd be really nice to get out and see the scenery. Get the blood going and taste the fresh air. Let's get ready, then."

They quickly got dressed, and teased each other about what they were wearing. Taki wore a tank top that brandished his sculpted arms, while Mitsuha wore leggings that wrapped around her lower body tightly and molded every curve.

"You think you'll impress anyone with that farmer's tan?"

"I hope you realize how many old men and little boys are gonna be looking at your butt."

They settled their banter with a good laugh, and got to business deciding where to go. Tokyo had a lot of popular hiking spots. There were those that tested the physical resolve of participants, and rewarded them with a spectacular sight. In search of something awe-inspiring, they accepted the challenge of hiking up Mount Takao, a roughly 460m trek westward of Tokyo. Of course they'd seen pictures that hikers and photographers alike would publicize for the viewing pleasure of commoners. But they knew there wasn't anything like the real thing.

When they made it out to the trail, they weren't really sure what to think. Of course the opening entourage was a nice easy flat trail, but what they knew would inevitably be a strenuous series of oscillating inclines and really uneven footing was obscured by the surrounding fauna.

"Drinks on whoever craps out first."

"Sounds fair."

And they foolishly sprinted up the opening steps and expended a lot of energy racing each other through the flat leveled opening. They ran up a couple of hills, letting the competitive juices flow. Mitsuha actually caught Taki off guard with her surprising athleticism, as she was able to keep up with him for the flat trail and a little bit of the hills before she began to lag behind. He slowed up a bit, as running side by side with her meant more to him than getting drinks off of her. And she noticed too. He came here to spend time with her after all. When they eventually ran out of nitrous, they took a stop and hunched over with their hands on their knees, their chests expanding and contracting rapidly.

"Well…huh…huh…aren't you noble." Mitsuha panted and panted, her eyes shut by fatigue, but still maintained a bright smile on her face.

Taki, also short on breath, kept a smile as he answered Mitsuha. "That…that race was over before it started."

Even though she wasn't overly exhausted, she used her loss of energy as an excuse to collapse into Taki's arms, who caught her and wrapped his arms around her sweaty body. Their breath alternated between panting and laughing. Partly out of happiness of just being with each other. But also due to realizing how stupid racing up hills was.

"Okay, seriously though…I bet we didn't even get through 5% of the trail."

"Aaand we're out of breath. A bit lacking of oversight. On both our parts."

"Well. Then let this be…the real challenge. We've gone through quite a bit of emotional adversity. But I've personally never exerted myself physically. I…I wanna get to end of this trail. And I want you next to me when we get there."

"Well, hey. That's we came here for!"

And the next few hours were some of the most agonizing physical stress either of them had ever experienced. The uphill climbing, the shoddy footing, and the already lacking energy almost proved to be too much for them. There were several points where one of them broke down and felt like giving up. But like all couples do, they pushed each other and motivated each other. Didn't let the other turn back. So they chugged through. Labored through, devoid of feeling in their feet. But when they finally got to the top, they were rewarded with what the many others before them were too.

Before them was an absolutely breathtaking view. A panoramic scene that oversaw Tokyo in all of its magnificence. Taki, despite having lived here his whole life, had never been able to see his home prefecture from this perspective. From the inside looking out, it felt like an endless utopia. But from this view that gave the look outside in, the Greater Tokyo Area seemed simplistic almost, having its entirety captured in this one incredible view.

"It…it…I never thought I would ever see Tokyo like this."

"Me neither. We made it, Taki-kun. We did it." Mitsuha clung to Taki's arm as she enjoyed the view with him.

Taki was speechless from what he was beholding, but if there was one thing he would've like to see the sun just behind the Tokyo skyline. But when he realized it'd have to be sunrise, he didn't find it as important anymore.

He and Mitsuha took a seat on the ground and enjoyed both the view and each other. Mitsuha took several pictures, really cool pictures at that, that she was so excited to share with her family and friends. Sayaka and Tessie would've been impressed that Mitsuha was able to make it all the way up Mount Takao, and more importantly, it would've been more evidence for her grandmother and Yotsuha that Taki was beyond dependable and that these are the kinds of moments she shares with him.

They angled themselves for a selfie, capturing themselves with the Tokyo skyline as the backdrop. It didn't take long for them to see that Mitsuha had instantly found a new phone wallpaper, and wasted no time changing it. And with almost perfect timing, the fatigue and expenditure of energy evolved into hunger. Taki opened up his backpack, and despite not remembering either of them preparing any sort of lunch, he for whatever reason thought he would find something in there. But he didn't. And Mitsuha gave him a silly look.

"Somehow I knew exactly what you were looking for before you even opened your backpack. But I decided to let you be disappointed anyway."

"Well, big news, smart one, you don't have food either."

They laughed at each other's expense for a little bit before the reality of not having food returned to them. And then they weren't laughing so much anymore. So they ran to the funicular line and took the car down to the base. They made their way back to Tokyo and stopped at a market, having almost no care what there was to eat as long as they ate something.

After having lunch, they returned to Taki's apartment to clean up and restore some energy. They both considered the thought of showering together (for efficiency and convenience purposes, of course), but decided against it. Mitsuha went first, and then while Taki was in the shower, she loaded the hundreds of pictures she took along the trail onto Taki's laptop. She took the liberty of setting aside a folder in his hard drive dedicated to their moments together, something she knew for certain he would appreciate. So into the folder went all the pictures of the hike, along with all of the pictures they took at the café and Akihabara yesterday. And throughout the process of transferring these priceless memories, she couldn't help but smile as she had someone to do all these fun things with like Taki. And they were just getting started.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing; they watched a few more episodes of _Oregairu_ , took a nap, and had a quick dinner of instant noodles. But by the time 20:00 hit, they ran out of stuff to do. And Mitsuha began to develop a small concern.

"Taki-kun?"

"What's up, sweetheart."

"Do you think…maybe we're taking our relationship too fast? I mean, just the 3rd day together and we hiked up Mount Takao. I…I'm just afraid that we'll run out of steam before we know it. I don't want us to grow apart."

"Well, I mean, it's Sunday. We both have work tomorrow. I would've totally asked you if you wanted to go out tonight if it wasn't a work night. And besides, it's our first weekend together after so many years. I figured we get some of it out of our system. Before we start thinking about the rest of our lives together from a serious point of view."

"Taki-kun…"

"When I said I'd spend the rest of my life with you, I said it wholeheartedly. It's my full intention on being with you forever. So for both of us to be comfortable…things would have to be discussed. And compromised. The first weekend isn't very appropriate for that. I thought maybe you understood."

"Well, when you put it that way, it makes so much sense. And it means more to me than you know that you take what we have together seriously. I love you so much. And I want to be with you as long as you want me around."

"I love you, too. And I agree, we've already taken enormous steps that for most relationships would be way too big. But…ours is special. I doubt anyone has ever gone through what we have. We can afford to take the fast lane sometimes."

Mitsuha pressed herself into Taki's body and hugged him tight. The latter returned her embrace and laid a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Hey! I've got an idea! Let's go grocery shopping. Like a real couple living together. That's what we are after all, right?"

"Sounds good to me."

With the remainder of the night before they had to go to bed, they picked up ingredients at the market to prepare dinner for the week. Things to make pork cutlet, hamburg steak, yakisoba, pretty straightforward meals. But despite the simplicity, there was no denying that this one trip to the market brought them closer together as future newlyweds. And it brought them more joy than they would've thought.

After putting away the groceries, they freshened up and cuddled together in Taki's bed. They both fell asleep almost instantly, guaranteeing that they would be fresh and well-rested for work tomorrow.

Having a second eye in the morning to point out and fix up the little things had a lot of sentimental value. Mitsuha spent more time experimenting with Taki's hair than he probably did himself his entire life. Taki had to endure the impossible question of "which one looks better on me", but Mitsuha was nonetheless accepting of Taki's pick.

"Y'know. This is the first day since we found each other that we won't spend together. And already…I'm missing you."

"Oh, please. It's only for a few hours. Everyone has their own dealings. Besides, looking forward to seeing you at the end of the day will make it go by faster, I'm sure."

"If you say so."

In stark contrast to his previous day at work, this Monday for Taki was notably sharp. He was dialed in, on his game, and really pushing the envelope for both himself and his group members. What was supposed to be a 3 day deliberation and review of the current revision of the plans were expedited and completed that day. All thanks to Taki's concentration and insight. Perhaps he had a little extra motivation today, but he didn't think it would push him this hard. Mitsuha herself had a productive day at the branch. She nabbed a couple of loans and finished up a refinance, earning her the praise of her manager, and of course a nice incentive payout. _Huh. I guess Taki-kun must be my good luck charm._

When they both arrived at Taki's apartment around 17:30, they were just as delighted to see each other as they were every time before. They prepared a dinner of pork cutlet, discussed their days over it, and finished up the evening with a few episodes of _Oregairu_. Before heading to bed before doing it all again the next day.

But before they could fall asleep, Taki decided to reach out to Mitsuha on a topic that he knew bothered her and would inevitably have to be resolved.

"Mitsuha…what should we say to your grandmother the next time we see her?"

"I…I'm not sure. And to be frank, I don't really wanna think about it right now. I'm having the time of my life with you. We're living together like a married couple. I don't want to ruin what we have together."

"I really want to talk about it someday. But I get it. I guess not tonight."

"No. Not tonight. Just kiss me good night already, would ya?"

They leaned closer together and slowly kissed each other to sleep. Mitsuha dropped into slumber rather quickly, but Taki's mind had more pressing concerns that wouldn't let him.

 _How am I gonna fix things with her grandmother? Where are we gonna get a decent place for the two of us? When will I marry her?_

The normally calm and worry-free Taki had these things swimming around his mind. And he laid awake for a while thinking about them. He turned his head over to see his clock read 12:30. His muscles eventually had to stretch and he shifted slightly, trying not to wake up Mitsuha. But his effort was wasted, as Mitsuha woke up anyway. _Wow, she's not a heavy sleeper._

"Taki-kun…you're still awake?"

"Yeah…I am. Just…thinking about things."

"Well…talk to me, then. What's going on?"

"It's just…if we wanna be the happy couple we wanna be, there's so much that has to happen first. I'm so worried about not giving you the best life possible. And don't you dare say 'oh as long as I'm with you I'm happy.' You deserve a lot more."

"Well…I don't know what to say then. Because being with you is the best life I can have already. Anything else would be icing on the cake. But if you really feel like you need to do extra to make me happy…then I'll do whatever I can to help make that happen. Because it looks like it would put you at peace too."

 **A/N: Heyo! So because my glorified-amateur baseball career has taken me out of town, I've had many less distractions and things to do other than put these chapters together (other than of course…y'know, playing baseball), so my downtime has been spent on this fic. I finally rewatched the movie for the first time since I watched it in April, and boy am I both glad and not glad I did. On one hand, it refreshed my memory of these two cuties, and capturing their character and personalities was immensely easier this time around (of course due to my writing style, some slight OOC is still there). But of course the twilight scene and the ending scene turned me into a fountain of feels and I cried my eyes out AGAIN! Nevertheless, it was a totally different experience watching it the second time (one of my teammates actually walked in and watched it with me), and it goes without saying that you understand things much better after seeing it once before. Anyway, once again, it's that time of the week where I thank each and every one of you for the overwhelming (yes, overwhelming to me) support I've gotten on this fic. The consistent viewership and heartwarming reviews are what drive me to keep writing these. In addition to the fact that I LOVE these two as a pair. So again, to anyone who has made it this far, thank you so much for reading. It means more to me than text can describe. So that's it from me for this week, and as always, see whoever in the next one. Cheers.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Umm…Miyamizu-san, did you change your signature?"

 _What? What is she talking about?_

Mitsuha checked down at her promotion papers and saw that her signature was indeed different. It read 'Tachibana Mitsuha'. She wrote it down without even realizing it. With embarrassment, she gasped and quickly shuffled to take back her papers.

"Oh! My goodness, I apologize. I…I'm not sure what I was thinking."

Her manager, despite having a rough exterior and being a bit stern at times, had her fair share of experience as a maiden in love. She quickly remembered signing with her husband's family name for the first time. It was a warming feeling. There was no way she could hold this against Mitsuha.

"Well, I see somebody is spoken for! For now you'll have to sign with your birth name, but once we get your specimen card redone, you can sign in your married name. This must've been pretty recent, huh? How come I never heard anything about this?"

"No, no! I, I'm not actually married yet. It's just…I'm sure you understand. My boyfriend means everything to me. I guess my heart's just rushing things. And pulling the strings right now."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to presume. Please forgive me. Well, either way, I wish you and your beloved a happy life."

As Mitsuha was re-signing, she felt appreciative of the kind words. And couldn't wait for the day where she would kiss Taki as his wife.

* * *

"I'm sorry Tachibana-san, there just isn't an opportunity for you to move up at this time."

"I see. I understand."

The feeling of defeat wasn't new to Taki. He'd been rejected from several companies after interviews before. And he was always able to shake them quickly. But this time, he felt a lot more like his future was in jeopardy. The reason why was obvious, though.

"Your hard work hasn't gone unnoticed though. You've definitely given this company an important lift. But remember that I say the same thing to some of your other colleagues. Your group members work very hard in here, too. When the time comes to fill a spot, you'll be up against other good candidates. Keep that in mind. And be ready when your chance comes."

In the grand scheme of things, his supervisor's words bear no weight. It was just a pick-me-up after being denied a chance to move up. Make more money and hold more importance in the company. No manager likes doing that. But Taki found that conversation uplifting. Perhaps not motivating, as he didn't hear anything he hadn't heard already. It gave him something to think about, though. And the words stuck with him. 'Be ready.'

* * *

During his commute home, Taki began to think that his efforts were without guidance. Was he just trying to make money to get a big house with Mitsuha and their potential family? Or was he really trying to accomplish something greater, or more for himself?

He opened his door to a pleasant smell. The aroma of eggs cooking in the pan brought him home mentally, gave him to the feeling of coming home to a family. But his appetite skyrocketed and became almost insatiable.

Even though she'd only been living here for a just a couple of days, Mitsuha developed an almost sixth sense for the door. Normally, the noise of housework, usually cooking, would drown out any other noise, but she always seemed to know the exact moment her dear Taki returned home.

"Taki-kun. Welcome home." She came out of the kitchen and greeted Taki with a warm smile and open arms. Taki wasted no time granting his girlfriend her due. They held each other for a while, before Mitsuha remembered there were eggs on the stove.

"Oh! The eggs! Man, I hope they didn't overcook!"

As Mitsuha went back to check on their dinner, Taki couldn't help but smile at the fact that he, in spirit, had a loving wife. They lived together, they did everyday things together, and they spent every second of their free time with each other. At this point, the wedding and rings would've been a formality. Didn't mean either of them didn't plan on it, though.

They discussed their day over a dinner of omurice. Mitsuha excitedly shared her promotion at work, while Taki hesitantly admitted his failure to get one himself.

"I'm curious, though. It already seems like you work really hard. And the money doesn't seem to be a problem either. What makes you want to take on a bigger responsibility?"

A frustrated Taki could only think of a retaliatory response. "Maybe I just want to get out of the bottom of chain, okay?! Maybe I'm tired of not being important, and maybe I want to have the pride of having a higher position! Does that make sense?"

As hurtful as it sounded, Mitsuha knew not to take it to heart. _He's probably been looking forward to a promotion for a while now. I probably shouldn't have asked. I'm so sorry, Taki-kun…_

"I…I understand. I didn't mean to stir anything. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Taki paused for a second and cringed with regret of what he'd just said to Mitsuha. There was no reason for him to lash at her like that. She just genuinely wanted to learn something about him. Something that could play a huge role in their lives together. He got out of his seat and walked behind Mitsuha, and held her from behind close. As he buried his face into her hair, he searched for anything to say that would possibly reverse his tirade.

"Nothing can ever justify what I just said to you. I didn't mean to raise my voice at you." His grip on her tightened, and his speech was muffled by her hair. "The real reason I wanted a promotion…was that…our current living situation just isn't feasible. Sure, we're happy right now. But I think in due time, we'll need a bigger place to live. Don't you want that, too?"

"Taki…I…it's hard for me to even think about the future right now. Sure someday, it'd be nice to have a house to ourselves but…I'm enjoying every second right now. What more could I ask for? I'm living with the love of my life, I just got a promotion at work, and…look at us, we're having dinner together, we get dressed together in the morning, we sleep together at night, we do all the things that happy couples do. And for right now…that's all I need."

"Mitsuh-"

"And hear me out, Taki-kun. You're gonna think I'm crazy, you might even get mad at me again for saying this but…when you said you were seeking a promotion today, I…honestly got a little sad. A bigger role would mean more work…and I was just afraid I wouldn't be seeing you as often. Of having less time with you."

"What about you, though? Won't you be busier?"

"Of course I'll have more things on my plate. But I still come home at the same time every day. It's just how the industry I work in is. Trust me, if moving up would've jeopardized the thing that's most important to me…I would've held off on it and tried again in the future. There's more important things in life than money, Taki. I thought you would've agreed with me."

"But the things that are important to me…unfortunately are tied to money. I…I guess I'm just getting carried away. And it's silly, when we found each other at the staircase, I had this weird thought of wanting to buy you a castle one day."

Mitsuha giggled. "Taki…excuse me if I sound rude…but you are very stubborn. And a poor listener. Because you seem to think that I need all these extravagant amenities to be happy."

"It's what I want for you."

"Why? Why is that so important to you?"

Taki paused for a moment. He realized he'd become so disillusioned in creating this elegant life for Mitsuha that he forgot how he fell in love with her in the first place.

"Because…it's what you deserve."

"Taki, that's nice. But…your effort would be wasted. Remember when we were leaving my…I guess, old house now, when you got on me about not thinking through, and how I'm normally more calculative? You're so much smoother and level-headed than this! I mean, the whole reason you joined this architectural firm was to create memories for people. Well, guess what, Taki-kun. The fond memories that we have together…the things I can look back on to make me happy…are all I need. No big house, no fancy sports car, none of these material possessions. I grew up without any of that. No reason to start now. I've said this for the umpteenth time by now…you are what makes me happy. And your love is all I need. Being with you, spending the time of day with you are what gets me through. So…please, please, please stop this insane crusade of obtaining all these things. They don't do me any good right now."

"Mitsuha…I can't believe you think of me that way. I guess…my main fear is that…at some point I won't be able to make you happy anymore. At least the way you say I do."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Now, I labored to make you this food. So you better eat it, otherwise I'm not making you dinner anymore."

Taki wanted to hug Mitsuha for much longer, but decided to grant his girlfriend's request and finish his dinner, since he was still hungry too.

* * *

The eve of the weekend dawned, and the two found themselves back at Taki's apartment, itching to find a way to spend their night. They encountered some difficulty deciding what to do. Did they want to hit up a bar and drink away, or maybe play it low-key and get a nice dinner? Go to a shopping mall and check out the wares? The possibilities were open, but Mitsuha came up with an idea that caught Taki completely off guard.

"Taki-kun…would you at all be interested in learning instruments together?"

"That…that sounds amazing. Why, though? I don't ever see you listen to music."

"That's because all my free time is spent doing something with you. At work, I use this really cool program called Spotify. It's an American software, and it has a huge selection of music. And for some reason…I've gotten into western rock music. I'm not really sure where it comes from…but it appeals to me. And my first thought was…it'd be really cool if we could play something together. Either dual leads or guitar-and-bass."

"I…you look like the last person to ever listen to rock music. But back in the day I tried learning acoustic guitar. It didn't really work out, but yeah, the idea of playing something together motivates me to try learning again!"

They discovered that there was a Hard Rock Café in Tokyo, so they headed there for dinner. Along the way there, they talked about some of the bands that Mitsuha had picked up. Taki was only slightly knowledgeable about rock music, so his familiarity with bands only stretched as far as Van Halen, KISS, and all the mainstream bands. As Mitsuha was sharing her newfound expertise on rock music with Taki, she became more and more excited at the idea of playing music with him. And the worries of running out of stuff to do that she had the other day disappeared.

The food was an afterthought, as to be expected with outsourced western chains. But this was the first time either of them had been in an atmosphere like that which Hard Rock Café presented. Classic tunes from the best bands set the ambience, the walls were decorated with tons of memorabilia from guitars to pictures to vinyl records, and the patrons were nothing like what either of them expected. Instead of long haired, rambunctious metal-heads, the people in the restaurant were relatively mellow, save for certain individuals. Neither of them were immediately comfortable with the environment, but once they settled in, they acclimated easily.

Mitsuha was able to pick out some of the bands she'd found on Spotify, and quietly hummed to the tune of her more favorite songs (of course she had no idea what the lyrics were). And the whole time Taki sat there in awe, almost flabbergasted, at this side of Mitsuha he would've never ever thought existed. On the exterior, Mitsuha looked very gentle and mild, soft and very reserved. But the more he thought about it the more sense it made. She did mention her appreciation for expressiveness and creativity. As for Taki himself, not being a huge music person in general, he felt there wasn't a better way to get into music than to start with the stuff his own girlfriend likes. As out of left field it could be.

They ventured to the closest open music store, which happened to be in a packed mall. After fighting through an ocean of people to get to this store, they arrived there, and were met with, of course, a packed lot. The store wasn't huge to begin with (by mall unit standards they actually had a pretty big lot) but the sheer concentration of people made it hard to even get through the store without bumping into someone.

"Okay, so did everyone and their mother decide to pick an instrument today?"

"Mmm, I don't think everyone here is new. I mean, look at that guy."

Off in the far side of the store was a guy testing out a guitar. And he was good. Really, really good. His fingers moved faster than their eyes could process. Mitsuha recognized the song he was playing as "Metropolis" by Dream Theater, and her jaw dropped at the accuracy of his playing.

"Don't tell me you're about to leave me for that guy."

"If we weren't in public I'd slap you."

Neither of them had any idea what to look for in an instrument, and since all the sales associates on the floor were occupied, they figured that this shredding stranger was the most qualified to give them some pointers. So they quietly approached him.

"Hey. You seem like you could help out some newbies pick out instruments. Think you can help us out?"

"Oh, uhh, I don't work here, sorry."

"Oh! That's okay. All the salespeople are busy, and I don't anticipate them being available for a while."

"Yeah, it is Friday night. Well, okay then, I can help you guys out."

It almost seemed like this random store patron knew more about the store's merchandise than some of the employees. He asked them different questions, like what kind of sound they were trying to create (of course neither of them had any idea), styles of rock, and most importantly price point. The way he was able to expertly choose a guitar for both of them, one would've thought he should've deserved a sales commission. This guy didn't care though. If anything it only validated his own knowledge of the equipment.

But when it was all set and done, the total price of the two guitars and amplifiers exceeded that which either of them were comfortable paying.

"Yeah. It's not a cheap hobby. Even starting out can be a little expensive."

"I feel bad though. You spent all that time trying to help us."

"Well, if you guys can remember what to look for the next time you go out guitar hunting, then our time here wasn't a waste at all."

"Well, thank you very much then."

They big farewell, and Taki and Mitsuha left the store awkwardly. After all that, they left the store emptyhanded.

"Now you see why I'm trying to get a promotion?"

"Well, I mean if we just let a few paychecks pile up, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem."

"True."

The time that was originally going to be spent practicing and learning became vacant. And they found themselves looking for something to spend the rest of Friday doing. It was only 20:30.

"Do you wanna go to a karaoke bar?"

"Really? Mmm. I dunno. I'm not a very good singer."

"Oh, c'mon. Anyone who takes themselves remotely seriously as a singer would never go to a karaoke bar. People go there to sing their hearts out, knowing they probably sound terrible!"

"I don't believe that. But. I don't have an idea what else to do. So, sure. Let's go."

The line looked intimidating, as potential patrons left the scene dejected the second they saw the line. Mitsuha figured it'd be a good idea to let Taki hear some of the music she'd been listening to, before inevitably forcing him to sing something. She leaned more towards bands that had strong lead vocals, such as Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, and Queen. Taki himself took a particular liking to "Train Kept a Rollin'", despite having no idea what the lyrics were, or what they meant. The extent of his English was only that as far as what he learned in school. Maybe he would just stick to something from ONE OK ROCK or something.

They finally got a room, and Mitsuha almost dove for the setlist binder, and was rather impressed with the selection. Tons of Japanese and English hits. The latter was probably there to appease Western tourists, many of which they saw in line. Mitsuha exhibited a lot of anticipation and excitement to sing, while Taki looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

"Taki? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just…I don't like putting myself out doing things I'm not good at. And I am not the best singer."

"Didn't I explain to you that no one comes here to be a good singer? And what's the big deal, we have this room to ourselves!"

Taki relaxed when he realized no one would hear him except Mitsuha. But nevertheless, he decided to let her go first. But by doing so, he took the risk of her being a really good singer, and then he'd get up after her and botch the moment.

"Alright then. Uhh… OH!"

Taki didn't even get the chance to see what Mitsuha picked, and after a few short moments, a crowd of applauding people appeared on the screen, followed by a dimly lit stage, and soon after a woman with thick puffy hair came out on stage. The song was sounded simple, but he found it very catchy. A simple 4-chord progression that played a couple times before the words came out.

 **A/N: OKAY! SO I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING WITH THIS CHAPTER. Sorry this one was delayed so badly, it turns out baseball takes more time than I thought! Anyway, I went to a Hard Rock Café IRL for the first time, and it was honestly one of the coolest experiences ever. And then we played Rock Band that night, and that's where I got the idea of making Taki and Mitsuha start getting into rock music together. I dunno. I'm trying not to set this up, and then it ultimately becomes a McGuffin, just something on the side I thought I'd put in to add something to their relationship. Who knows where I'll go with this. So the story has reached the 40 follower mark, and is sorta close to the 40 favorite mark. That to me is just baffling. I would've never thought in my lifetime that I'd ever write something like this, get this much support and feedback, and make it a part of my everyday life the way it has. Seriously, you guys are awesome. The confidence I've developed as both a writer and a creator in general have been invaluable to me. It's something I know I can take with me for a long time. Thank you to each and every one of you still reading. And as per usual, I'll see y'all whenever. Cheers.**


	11. Chapter 11

"Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history"

 _What is this English?! What is her voice?!_

Mitsuha's English sounded almost flawless, and on top of that, she had a smooth voice. It was soft, but low, and it complimented this low tempo, but upbeat song really well.

When the guitar solo came on, she turned to Taki and pointed at the screen. "See, Taki? I wanna be able to play this one day." He just smiled with a look that said "yeah that'd be pretty cool".

After Mitsuha got done murdering "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", it was Taki's turn, but not before he could compliment her, or question her.

"Wh-…wait…wha-…Mitsuha! You're amazing!"

"Thanks! I love Pat Benatar, she's awesome. Isn't rock music awesome?"

"Yeah, it is. That song was super catchy and easy to listen to. Where in the world did you learn to sing like that?"

"I'm not sure. It's just natural for me, I guess. Alright now. It is your turn, Taki-kun."

"Umm…gee, I…I dunno."

"Come ON, Taki-kun. So you'd rather just sit there and just watch me sing?"

"I mean, I don't really have a problem with that. You have a really nice voice, after all."

"Hmmph. You don't make things easy, do you? Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll sing a duet with you."

"So you can drown out my voice? I like that idea!"

He let Mitsuha pick again, since she was clearly more knowledgeable about songs to sing. He didn't even bother helping her look for something, and didn't dare question what she finally picked.

"Wait. How am I supposed to sing, if I don't know what the song is?"

But it was too late. The opening title card of the song came on. And it turned out Mitsuha knew him better than he thought.

Like Mitsuha, he had a sort of affinity for western music, obviously not as much as her. But he would sing songs to himself enough where he could overcome the language barrier and get through the song without any hitches in speech. So when Mitsuha chose "Bohemian Rhapsody", he felt a little relieved since it was a song that he knew well. Well, better than most other western hits.

The first few lines were a little awkward for Taki. The lack of confidence in his voice overcame everything, but slowly melted away as more of the song passed. So then by the time the Galileo part came on, Taki was singing his heart out without a care in the world, and Mitsuha couldn't help but smile. She hated the nervous and reserved part of Taki, the one that prevented him from doing stuff like this. The confident, outgoing Taki was the one she fell in love with. And it was on full display over one of Queen's most famous ballads.

The rest of the time was spent singing Japanese songs that they were lyrically more comfortable with. And what felt like just about a half hour or so turned out to be 3 hours, so seeing 23:30 on the clock surprised them quite a bit.

"Alrighty! That was fun, right?"

"It was. Thank you for pulling me out of the shell. I…I wouldn't've been able to experience that. That was pretty fun."

"Told you! And honestly, you're not a bad singer. Just be more confident next time, 'cause we're doing this again pretty soon. Okay, what do we do now?"

Most of the shops in the mall were closed. The only ones that were open were bars, restaurants, and other recreational establishments. But Mitsuha happened to glance the other way, when she saw Yotsuha and a few of her friends walk towards them, away from the movie theater.

"OH! YOTSUHA!"

When Yotsuha realized it was Mitsuha, a smile grew on her face and she became really happy to see her sister, when in the past she would've normally cringed from embarrassment. Part of that was due to the fact that she doesn't see her as often anymore. But she couldn't let her friends see her emotional attachment to anything, let alone family.

"Hey, onee-chan." There was very little enthusiasm in her voice, and the happy look on her face dissolved into one of disinterest. Mostly because she wanted to keep her cool and nonchalant persona intact to her friends. She was a teenager after all.

"'Hey, onee-chan' that's it, Yotsuha? I thought you'd be a little happier to see me. Since we don't live together anymore…"

While the sisters had their little standoff, Yotsuha's friends pounced on Taki, with their menstrual instinct all but forcing them to ignore the possibility of him being spoken for already.

"Sup? What's your name?"

 _Okay, like, how old are these girls?_ "Umm. I'm Taki. Nice to meet you." The girls just laughed at his gentle nature and mature demeanor.

"Ooohhh, what a gentlemannnnnnnnn." One of them took Taki's hand and started swinging it back and forth. "Well, I'm Kaori."

"And I'm Shizuka!"

"I'm Rin!"

 _Have they, like, never seen a male before?_

The girls circled him and laughed, while putting their hands on him in places that, despite being publically acceptable, were still reserved for Mitsuha. But what was he gonna do, shove them all away?

"Guys, leave him alone!" Yotsuha interjected and barked at her friends to stop harassing Taki.

She'd already beaten Mitsuha to it, who was a little hesitant to say anything to Yotsuha's friends, not wanting to risk coming off as a jealous woman. But seeing these girls touch Taki boiled her blood, and her face turned red instantly. But somehow when she saw Yotsuha take charge of the situation, she relaxed at her sister's display of maturity. Plus, these were high school girls, what would Taki even do to them?

The girls turned in response to Yotsuha, and when they realized that this incredibly gorgeous woman was Taki's significant other, their faces turned red and they jumped a few feet back away from Taki. They then began to clamor and yell apologies over each other, at which Mitsuha just laughed.

"I kinda had the same reaction when I first met him, too."

Taki glanced over at Yotsuha, and had some different feelings hit him. First, it was a little refreshing to see her again, since during the time he spent in Mitsuha's body, he got to know her pretty well, and came to consider her his own sister in his own sense. And he couldn't help but notice that Yotsuha herself had grown to be fairly attractive. _Runs in the family, I guess._

"Yotsuha. I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with everything that's been going on between me and Obaa-san. But! Here he is! This is Taki! This is who I've been spending all this time with!" Mitsuha was both excited that two of her most beloved people got to meet, and also desperate that Yotsuha would get a good enough impression of him so that she could validate all of Mitsuha's pleas to her grandmother.

Taki held out his hand for more traditional greeting, in contrast to the one he had with her friends. "I'm Taki. Nice to meet you." Part of him, though, felt odd that he was introducing himself to someone he already knew. But so much time had passed. And she'd changed so much. It's almost like he hadn't known her at all.

"Nice to meet you. Taki-kun."

Mitsuha turned bright red, caught off-guard that her sister thought they were on given name basis already. "Hey! D-Don't call him that!"

"Why?"

"Because…it's…it's my nickname for him!"

 _Ooh, a little possessive, aren't you, Onee-chan?_ "Taki-kun? That's what you chose for his nickname? Oh alright. I just thought, y'know, since this guy's gonna be my brother-in-law, we'd be on a first name basis…" Yotsuha hid a small smirk, knowing that she had just turned their gears.

The two lovebirds stuttered over each other, and felt their faces flush with crimson. Behind her, Yotsuha heard one of her friends playfully scold her for what she did. "You're so evil, Yotsuha-chan!"

"Anyway, what were you guys up to?"

"Oh! We just got done with karaoke! It was a lot of fun! Did you guys just see a movie?"

"Oh, nooo, we just decided to walk into the movie theater, do nothing for an hour and a half, and leave."

"I don't remember you being this sarcastic…"

"And I don't remember you-"

"How about you don't finish that sentence, Imouto-chan…" Mitsuha's voice had a very hostile inflection, one that definitely scared Yotsuha. She decided to heed her sister's advice in fear of what Mitsuha would do. She was the gatekeeper to a lot of embarrassing memories, after all.

"So. Where are you and Taki living, nowadays?"

 _WHAT IS WITH THIS GIRL?_ Taki hesitantly shared his neighborhood of residence, which he would immediately regret.

"Oh, that's so close to here! Let's all go to Taki's place!"

"Yotsuha!"

Yotsuha friends began clamoring in desire to go to Taki's apartment. These were girls that normally spent their weekends away from home. The excuse of it being too late at night would never work on them. _How is Yotsuha able to stay out like this? Wouldn't her grandmother say something?_

Taki at first denied the idea, but when he thought it about it, he warmed up to it a little. _What's the worst that could happen?_ As far as he knew, there wasn't any alcohol in the apartment, and he did have a lot of stuff they could do together as a group. When it was all set and done, Taki found it to be a great opportunity to develop a foundation of trust with Yotsuha, who at this point was one of his only lifelines for gaining Hitoha's approval.

The whole time, Mitsuha was scolding and rambling to Yotsuha about the do's and don'ts of relationships, what not to say and do, and the questions that cross the line. Taki lightly pulled her aside, and somehow his grip on her soothed her, and her estrogen-fueled tirade turned into a state of tranquility. She turned to Taki and responded to his tug on her arm with a soft "yes, sweetheart?"

"If you think about it, if they have a good time, your sister will tell your grandmother all about it. And she'll become more trusting of me. And more accepting of our relationship."

"Taki…I'm gonna be totally honest. That is not what's gonna happen."

"Mitsuha, you don't ever get to see your sister anymore. Believe or not, it's been 2 weeks since you moved out. Don't you wanna spend some time with her?"

"I…I do."

Taki couldn't care less about having a bunch of teenage girls in his apartment. But as time passed, he noticed that Mitsuha began to miss her grandmother and sister. And no matter how many times she would say that he made her happy and stuff, he knew he could never replace them.

"Sigh…alright. C'mon girls, let's go."

During the journey back to Taki's apartment complex, he noticed that all the girls had a certain tag on their handbags. Like he did with Mitsuha, he knew he'd see them before, but had a little bit of trouble remembering what they meant.

"Those tags look awfully familiar. Where did you get those?"

"Oh, these? Oh, we all play basketball for our school. This is the participation tag you get when you make the prefecture tournament."

And then all of Taki's memories playing the boys' tournament came flooding back. He remembered doing something very irresponsible the night before an elimination game. Something stupid enough that rendered him unable to play, and the team lost as a result. He couldn't remember exactly what he did, but the grief he experienced and the sheer embarrassment he felt, he definitely remembered.

"Aw man. Y'know, believe it or not, I played in the boy's tournament back in the day. It was a lot of fun."

"It sure was! We made it the semifinals, how far did you guys go?"

"Heh. We didn't make it out of the group stage."

The rest of the train ride was spent conversing about the landscape of Tokyo high school basketball. Taki inquired about if the powerhouses in his day were still good, and the girls learned about how different the guys' and girls' games were. Eventually, they found themselves at Taki's front door, prompting Taki to heed them a warning about the floor spacing.

"Okay, so I never intended to have more than a couple people other than myself in here. So mind the tight spacing."

Yotsuha and her friends explored Taki's flat like newly adopted pets in their new home, scouring every corner, pondering upon every object that they didn't see every day, and of course assuming the worst when they discovered Mitsuha's belongings almost everywhere.

"Alright guys, you begged us to drag you out here, now find something to do."

The girls looked at each other in debate, waiting for someone to be the guinea pig and share an idea. Eventually one of them decided to take advantage of the nightfall

"Ghost stories! Scary stories! It's dark out, and we're in a pretty tight space. Let's turn out the lights and tell scary stories!"

Taki and Mitsuha looked at each other with that look that said "well, I don't know any scary stories". But, hey, why not?

So they just rolled with it. And since they didn't have much to contribute with, they figured they'd get whatever lame stories they had out of the way first to not kill the mood later. Taki told this really strange story about a farm boy pulling a toe out of the ground and getting found by a monster, while Mitsuha shared an almost equally weird story about a boy and how his friend was turned into a creature by a disease. None of them were particularly entertained, and one of Yotsuha's friends actually almost fell asleep.

"You okay? Do we need to take you home?"

Past a yawn, she was able to get out "eh, I'm okay. Those stories were just so boring," to which Taki and Mitsuha just looked at her with a look of non-amusement.

As the night continued, the stories became longer, more complex, and of course scarier.

"The noises came closer and closer…and when she turned back to her computer screen…A GHOST ZOMBIE APPEARED IN SCREEN!"

"AHHHGHGHHGH!"

And another one.

"Through the therapist's eyes, he could see himself getting attacked by a monster…and when his mind returned to the real world…the therapist was THE MONSTER HIMSELF!"

"AHHHHHHGHGHGHHGHGH!"

The one that Yotsuha told was one that Mitsuha had heard before by word of mouth, one that frightened her greatly when she heard it the first time. When she was much younger, though.

"He followed the voice through his living room…then his kitchen…then the patio outside…"

"NO! STOP!"

"DON'T FOLLOW THE VOICE!"

Taki himself was getting a little nervous, and he subconsciously found himself trying to sense his surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. One of Yotsuha's friends was balled up in fear, going through a little bit of a panic attack.

"That's enough, Yotsuha." Mitsuha tried to end the story in fear of what could happen to her friend, but Yotsuha was in a storyteller's trance.

"The voice SCREAMED behind him. He turned around, but nothing was there…he followed it back into the house…and then the walls started closing in…getting tighter and tighter…"

Yotsuha's friend was whimpering and shaking from fear.

"Umm, Yotsuha, I don't think your friend is doing too good."

"Yotsuha, you need to stop. Your friend is…"

"He somehow made it to the bathroom…and heard the voice from the toilet…so he decided to open it…and with every inch the lid raised from the seat…the eerie moaning grew louder…and louder…and FINALLY WHEN HE COULD SEE INSIDE THE BOWL…"

Yotsuha's friend opened her eyes wide and gasped.

"YOTSUHA!"

"There was nothing…"

Her friend sighed in relief, and appeared to calm down a little bit.

"AND THEN HE TURNED AROUND AND A BLOODIED BANSHEE WAS RIGHT BEHIND HIM!"

And Shizuka's voice let out a screech that was sure to wake up anyone within 20 meters. From the shock and fright and also the exhaustion from screaming that loud, Yotsuha's friend passed out on Taki's floor.

"Yotsuha! Look what you've done!"

"Aww, it's okay. She'll wake up in about 5 minutes."

"How do you know?! You've done this to her before?"

"Well, no. But what could possibly be wrong with her?"

"Oh my goodness, Yotsuha!"

Taki began to inspect her to see if she was okay, checking her pulse and other vital signs. The presence of the pulse was a good sign, but it was clear that she wasn't waking up anytime soon.

"See? She's good. I think she just fell asleep."

"Yotsuha, what are we going to do? She's not waking up and it's 1 in the morning!"

To make matters worse, her phone lit up and began vibrating, showing that it was her mom that was calling.

"YOTSUHA! YOU GET TO ANSWER FOR THIS!"

"What? Why? How's it my fault she can't handle ghost stories?"

"AAAAHHHHH!"

"Umm, hello?"

 _Hello? Shizuka?_

"Taki?! What are you doing?"

"Shh…"

 _WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!_

"Umm, your daughter is okay…it's just…"

 _WHEREVER THE HELL YOU ARE, I WILL FIND YOU AND GET MY DAUGHTER. AND THEN I'M GOING TO CALL THE POLICE!_

"No, no, no, no! She's…are you familiar with Miyamizu Yotsuha?"

 _I AM._

"Okay, well I'm Yotsuha's…umm…well I'm her sister's boyfriend. And your daughter came with Yotsuha to my apartment-"

 _SO YOU HAVE TEENAGE GIRLS AT YOUR APARTMENT RIGHT NOW? YOU ARE A PEDOPHILE, I AM GOING TO CALL THE POLICE!_

Yotsuha, realizing the fault of her doing, took the phone from Taki and decided to try to mediate the situation herself.

"Hello? Mrs. Katsuragi?"

 _Yotsuha? Where are you guys? Are you guys okay?_

"We're totally fine! I promise you we are all safe! Taki is not a molester!"

 _Taki? Is that who I was talking to?_

"It was. Like he said, he's my sister's boyfriend. See, we ran into them at the mall and, well…we wanted to go to his apartment to hang out. I, I didn't even realize how late it was."

 _So what's going on with Shizuka, why did Taki have to answer?_

"Okay, well umm…hehe…she's a little incapacitated right now…"

 _WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!_

"Well, we were telling scary stories and…I guess she got a little scared."

 _So what's she doing right now?_

"She's passed out. She's okay, though."

A short silence gave Yotsuha a mini heart attack, and she anticipated an 11-gauge outburst from a mom who already doesn't think very highly of her.

 _Yotsuha, may I speak to Taki, please?_

Yotsuha didn't hesitate to hand the phone back to Taki. He himself was reluctant to take it.

"H-Hello?"

 _What is your family name?_

"It's uhh- Tachibana."

 _Tachibana-san, I am forced to trust you with the life of my daughter. Gah, I can't believe Yotsuha told ghost stories with her in the room! But I have no choice but to depend on you to take care of my daughter. If anything happens to my daughter between now and when we pick her up, we will be seeing each other in court._

"Understood. Your daughter will be alright. I apologize for the incident, and I will do everything I can to make sure your daughter is okay." All the girls, especially Yotsuha, were impressed with Taki's cool-headedness. Mitsuha couldn't help but smile and the calm and collected nature she fell in love with. Seeing Taki handle everything so maturely made her relieved in a way.

 _Text your address to this number. We will arrive to pick her up as fast as possible._

The call disconnected, and all Taki could do was to accept what was happening, and he sent his address to Shizuka's mother.

Yotsuha and her friends had looks of tremendous guilt. "Taki, I-"

"It's fine."

"I…I…sigh…c'mon guys, let's go."

"Uh-uh. There's no way I'm letting you guys leave this late. It's too dangerous for you guys to be heading home by yourselves."

"But, what are we-"

"I have some extra bedding. You guys are gonna have to stay here until sunrise. I can't risk you guys going out there at this time."

"Wait…are you sure?"

"I'm already knee deep in this whole thing. Better take care of you guys than to risk something terrible happening."

"Taki…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"No one did. But things happen."

Yotsuha just looked away defeated, knowing that there wasn't anything left to say.

The next moments were spent with the girls contacting their parents and letting them know what was happening. Taki, Mitsuha, and Yotsuha laid out blankets and comforters to sleep on. And as soon as they were done, Mitsuha violently grabbed her sister and pulled her into the bathroom. Taki decided to look away and try to tune it out, but nonetheless heard the door slam along with the opening words of Mitsuha unloading on Yotsuha. Seeing Mitsuha melt down like this wasn't anything he'd seen before. And as he tucked in a comatose Shizuka, he began to grow anxious at how tarnished his reputation was to not only Hitoha (as far as he knew), but also parents he would otherwise have nothing to do with.

The girls returned from the kitchen, and offered Taki several apologies. What made Taki feel better was the sincerity; ordinarily, girls at their age would throw out sorry's with no meaning, but the voice inflection and body language gave him all the more reason to keep them safe. "No one could've seen this coming. Don't worry about it. I just want you guys to stay here and not go out alone."

The bathroom door opened, and the first to come out was an emotionally wrecked Yotsuha, who looked like had just finished crying an ocean, and then a still fuming Mitsuha. She sat down on the bed next to Taki, exhausted and just as emotionally drained as her sister. Taki put his arm around her and pulled her closer, allowing her to rest her tired body as she laid her head against his shoulder.

"What did you say to her?"

"Just…mainly that I was disappointed in her. She put you and me into a very vulnerable situation. And her friends in danger by keeping them out this late."

"I know you don't want to hear this right now…but does your grandmother know what's happening?"

Mitsuha paused, trying admirably to contain the mini panic attack she had. Tears welled in her eyes, and eventually she broke down grabbed Taki, crying in his shoulder.

"I have no idea what to do! Everything just gets worse and worse! Every time I think things would get better between us and my grandmother, something always digs us deeper! I tried telling myself I don't need both! But you were right! I can't live knowing my grandmother doesn't want us together!"

"So answer me, then. How much does she know, if anything?"

"We tried calling the house, but no one answered, understandably. But the good thing is that on weekends, Yotsuha's usually out by the time our grandmother falls asleep. So I guess if she gets back before she wakes up, there would be nothing to tell her."

"I'm not completely approving of the idea of keeping this from your grandmother. But I think it's probably the best course of action."

"I just want this nightmare to end."

"Well, I mean, really, it's not that bad. We just have to keep these girls here until morning. Then we go back to living our lives."

Mitsuha's stress left her despondent, and offered no response to Taki. Whether she was in agreement or just too tired to say anything was beyond him.

"Okay. I'm gonna check on the girls. Then we can get to bed."

He walked out into his living room to see that the girls had already gotten settled and ready for bed. If none of them knew any better, it would've seemed like they were having a slumber party. But the tension in the room would've made even a joke about it very awkward and inappropriate.

"I'm not trying to sound like a dick when I say this, but when are you guys leaving tomorrow?"

"I guess when it's bright enough outside." None of the girls had a whole lot of courage, surely not enough to answer Taki, but Kaori's answer was met with no disagreement.

"Whenever you guys feel like it's okay. Anything else you guys need?"

"No, we're fine. We really appreciate all that you're doing. Sorry that you have to deal with us."

"Again. It's okay. In fact, let's not make this a bigger deal than it really is." Taki tried to relieve some of their tension, but nothing was going to change the fact that the girls knew they messed up by staying too late.

He returned to his bedroom and found Mitsuha, waiting for him to come back. She too had an apologetic look on her face.

"What's that face for?"

"I…I feel like somehow I could've prevented this."

"Look, it's not that bad, okay? They just stayed a little late, and we're just making sure they don't go out by themselves. And you know what I just realized? It was my idea to bring them here. I ultimately gave the green light to let them come over. So, makes sense for me to own up to it, right? There's nothing you need to feel bad about."

Mitsuha had nothing else to say, and decided to give in to her tiredness. She reached her lips to Taki's cheek and pecked it with a quick kiss before snuggling under the sheets against his body.

Before Taki himself fell asleep, he took a second to evaluate how he handled the whole thing. Was he really doing the right thing by keeping the girls here? Would it maybe have been smarter to let the girls go home by themselves?

 _Not a chance. Not in this part of town. Their parents wouldn't let them go out this late either._

Speaking of which, he felt like he was a little too nonchalant about the whole deal. And he wondered if their parents, especially Shizuka's, would necessarily agree with his attitude towards what was going on.

 _No. I think I handled it alright. They'll be mad, sure, but it'll be okay at the end of the day._

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 **A/N: OKAY SO ANIME EXPO IS THE BIGGEST DISTRACTION EVER! I planned on working on this during the trip, but wouldn't you know it, I came back every day super late and super tired, so the energy to write this was obviously lacking. And it didn't help that I flew in to LA on the very same day my baseball gig ended. BUT HOLY MOLY WAS AX AWESOME! I went last year, and it was a lot of fun, but this time around was probably the best four days of my life. SO MUCH YOUR NAME/KIMI NO NA WA STUFF IN ARTIST ALLEY! I had to constrain myself from buying every piece of art featuring Taki and Mitsuha. Anyone who's been knows exactly what I'm talking about. Anyone who hasn't who has a chance to should definitely go. It's honestly an experience that words would never be able to do justice. As for this story, the distractions are over; baseball as far as I know is done, and AX unfortunately is a thing of the past, so the time I put into this story should increase exponentially. For anyone still reading, thank you so much for the support. I'm sure any following for this fic, if any, has dropped off because of the time between this and the last chapter. So if you're still here, I appreciate it more than you can realize. As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya whenever. Cheers.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Psst…Taki"

"Huh-, wha-…"

After Taki recovered from his post-wake-up disorientation, he looked over to the source of this whisper, to find that it was Shizuka. Lucid and totally normal.

"Oh. Shizuka. Good morning. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. The others told me everything that happened. I…I'm so sorry for all this."

"Look." Taki sat up, waking up Mitsuha in the process. He was a little embarrassed that someone had walked in on him and his girlfriend sleeping together, but decided to ignore it for Shizuka's sake. She most likely would not have done so if she didn't have to. "I said this to your friends too. Don't worry about it. I mean, everyone was okay in the end, right? You guys just stayed a little late, that's all!"

A groggy Mitsuha sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Mmm…Taki-kun, what's going on…are the girls okay?"

"Everyone's fine. In fact, everyone else is gone already. I'm the only one here now."

"Wait, they left already? As in they left before you woke up?"

"No, no! They just left not too long ago. Like, not even a full minute before I came in here. They stuck around until I was okay."

"Well…then everything wasn't for naught. That's good."

"Taki…Mitsuha…thank you so much for taking care of me last night. That was very thoughtful and mature of you guys. I…and despite me passing out, I had a lot of fun last night. I'll never forget what you guys did for me."

"You're welcome. I think any adult would do the same. We just did what we felt was right."

Shizuka just smiled, not confident that Taki was entirely forgiving of what happened. The back of her head still maintained that Taki was completely frustrated about the whole thing. So she didn't want to risk any tension by throwing out another apology.

"I…I honestly hope we can come back and do something together again. I- I feel like I'm overstepping some boundaries, and I know I might have overstayed my welcome, but I know I speak for the others too when I say you guys are so kindhearted and fun to be around. I hope we can hang out under better circumstances in the future."

Mitsuha decided to add to Taki's sentiment, and help Shizuka feel better. "Well…if there's anything I learned about you in the past couple minutes, it's that you're a very mature young woman. The way you carry yourself seems to be well beyond your years. I'd welcome your guys' company any time."

"Thank you, Miyamizu-san." Shizuka's face beamed with a genuine smile.

"I honestly remember when I was a third-year myself. So don't worry about it."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go now. Don't worry about my mother, I told her I would meet her at a station. Again, thank you so much, guys."

They all bid each other farewell for now, and got out of bed to clean up the main area. But when they entered the room to folded sheets and comforters, all neatly converted into its original form, they were astonished, almost flabbergasted.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Wow."

All the stress from last night made them forget that it was indeed Saturday, and found themselves eager to spend it doing something together.

"You know what, I'm hungry. If you're hungry too, let's get some ramen."

"Sounds good! We can figure out something to do there, while we're at it."

Neither of them ate ramen very much; they both in a way considered it a delicacy. Conversely, they knew people who will never touch ramen again because of how frequently they ate it. After they ordered, they used the time between then and when the food got there to talk. Of course about what they were going to do for the rest of the day, but Mitsuha had to settle a subject that'd been bothering her all morning.

"Taki-kun…were you…I hope you weren't serious about having those girls over again."

"Half joking, but half serious, too. I think if you ignore everything that happened with Shizuka, I'd say it was a pretty fun time."

"I…I don't completely disagree. But…y'know, the whole point of all that was so that I could spend time with my sister. And I felt like I spent the whole night scolding her and just being mad her. And the whole time I was just being reminded of the things that I always disliked about her. Yeah, it was nice to see her, but…I guess I'm just a little bitter that…I feel like she hasn't grown up a whole lot."

"Well…okay, I may be touching a nerve here. But she can't be that bad. I mean, she's taking care of your grandmother by herself now."

"She's in a controlled environment, without any enablers! She was a little bit of a brat growing up, and now, especially around her friends…she's so rebellious! She's so inconsiderate! No regard for the right thing to do! I told you this already, she made you and me liable for something possibly terrible. Did that not concern you at all?"

"Of course it did! Look, I'm the one that looks like this pervert, alright? And I think you should give your sister more time. I think given what's happened, she's being forced to grow up a lot faster than she'd like. Not everyone handles those kinds of circumstances the same way. Look, I don't have any siblings. So, honestly, Yotsuha is the closest to a sibling I have. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for the sake of her being comfortable in her skin. She genuinely felt bad about the whole thing too."

Mitsuha took a second to process all that Taki'd just said. "You're right. Maybe I was a little hard on her."

"I think the message was appropriate; she definitely needed to be told that she made a little mistake. But I wanted to say something when you started screaming at her. I didn't think that was the right way to handle it. Look. It's over now. Let's put this behind us, and not let this be something that defines your relationship with your sister."

Mitsuha let her silence be a signal of agreement, and reached over the table to take Taki's hands, stroking the back of them with her thumbs.

"You never cease to amaze me."

Just like at the Italian restaurant, their conversing consumed a lot of time, and before they knew it, their food had arrived. So they put down the bowls of ramen, and got to discussing what they ultimately came to the restaurant to do.

"I think a museum would be nice. Just walk through, explore, admire stuff. Just take it easy today."

"No argument here."

When they settled on the Tokyo National Museum, Taki realized that he hadn't been to a museum in years. In fact, the last time he'd been to one was the only other time he'd ever been on a date. And all the memories, along with the feelings associated with that day, came back to Taki, and internally he cringed. So along the commute to the museum, he was uncharacteristically quiet and anxious.

"Taki-kun? Everything okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…eh, it's whatever."

"No. Tell me. What's going on?"

"It's a little embarrassing."

"Taki. Come on. You can tell me anything. I mean, whatever it is obviously bothers you."

"Well…huh. The last time I was at a museum…that day is a day I would rather forget."

"Wait, what ha-… oh… that was your date with your coworker, wasn't it…"

"I…I didn't think it was possible to make that much of a fool of myself."

"Taki. Don't say that. Alright, from what I understand…it was your first date. You were, what, 17? It's okay! I sure hope you don't expect anyone's first date to be smooth."

"But-"

"'But' nothing. Everybody's an idiot when they're young. It takes a lot of courage and self-realization to let go of mistakes and build on them. I know that was a pretty traumatic moment for you. But it's made you who you are! Sometimes the worst moments are what forge the best parts of us! For what it's worth, I always thought you were cool and smooth. And I'm so proud to be your girlfriend. Don't let something that happened 5 years ago hold you back and continue to bother you."

"Well…actually, you know what, though…if there's anything I do remember about that day that I do appreciate, Okudera-senpai was able to point out that I was in love with someone else. Have any guesses who that might have been?"

Mitsuha giggled and blushed. "Hmm. Would her name happen to be Mitsuha?"

"Looks like we have a winner!" Taki sighed with laughter.

"What do I win then? Oh! Do I win a date with a dashing and handsome man?"

"Yeah, lemme go find one first, though!"

The two shared a hearty laugh, and the hijinks dissolved, quickly replaced with intimacy, as Taki stopped and wrapped his arms around Mitsuha from behind. "I have no idea what I'd do without you, Mitsuha. I love you…"

Mitsuha, despite being a little confused as to what came over him all of the sudden, took Taki's embrace and rested back against him. "I love you too, Taki. I'll always be here for you."

As they made their way throughout the museum, Mitsuha was of course enamored by all the exhibits and displays the Tokyo National Museum had to offer. But Taki was met with difficulty enjoying himself. He thought his moment with Mitsuha earlier let him make peace with his cringeworthy memories, but yet every passing article, especially the art, pushed him deeper into a state of uncertainty.

He said what he needed to earlier, but experiencing the awkwardness of that date made him appreciate Mitsuha that much more. They held hands as they went through, and when Taki took a second to look over at her and say to himself 'wow, I'm really lucky', his grip on Mitsuha's hand tightened instinctually, as his desire and need for her made him do whatever to not let her slip away.

"Ahh…Taki-kun, my hand. That hurts."

Mitsuha's gentle voice snapped him out of his trance, and his lightened his hold on her hand, but still refused to let go.

"I prefer this anyway."

Mitsuha broke their hold, and hugged Taki's arm, leaning against it. The display of affection caught the eyes of some, but neither of them bothered to care at all. Just like before, they went through a lot to find each other again. Why wouldn't they enjoy each other's presence?

They capped off the night with dinner, and spent the rest of the night at the apartment relaxing. They watched anime for a while, and ended up turning in really early. Neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before, and after being out the whole day, it finally caught up to them.

* * *

The next day began very much the same. They set off into the city to find something to eat, as well as a place to decide on what they wanted to do that day. And just like last time they ended up talking about something a little different.

"Hey, Taki. I've always wondered, y'know. My life in Itomori and my life here are so different. Almost nothing is the same. So sometimes I wonder if any of my old life has any presence here."

"What do you mean? I mean as far as I knew, things were pretty similar. You went to school, you hung out with friends, and stuff. The only thing I would think would be different would be the shrine traditions. I mean, obviously, from that regard it's a little different, but aside from the setting, what's so different?"

"Well, we did a lot of spiritual ceremonies and stuff. A lot of praying, and lot of worshiping, I'm sure of all things you remember the sake ceremonies." Mitsuha shuddered a little bit remembering those rituals.

"Well, how about that then? Let's visit a temple today. Let's see how sacrilegious Tokyo can be. As far as I'm aware of, there's a very strong presence of worship here. And if nothing else, it'd at least be a really cool cultural experience!"

"I dunno, Taki. You remember. I was…so, so happy when I was in your body. Living in Tokyo and living your life was my escape. And I honestly dreaded the times when I was back in my own body. Life here is so robust!"

"I feel you. Adaptation is important, but I feel holding on to your roots and remembering where you came from is equally important. After all, going through all that built a lot of character. Wouldn't you say?"

"I guess so…"

"Then come on this journey with me! Enlighten me! I've honestly wanted to learn more about this sort of stuff, especially after I, well, I guess 'met' you. I'm sure there's a lot of things you can clarify for me. In fact, you'll probably learn something too!"

Mitsuha felt like Taki was already locked in on visiting a temple today, so she figured it'd be best to not waste her breath on trying to convince him otherwise. Besides, she herself didn't have any noteworthy ideas either. So they went to the Meiji Shrine, and neither of them knew what to expect. When they got there, they were met with a rather unexpected scene. They noticed that the area surrounding the shrine was almost scarily modern. So modern, that it even had a baseball stadium, which they later learned was actually in operation, and owned by the shrine. They decided to ignore everything else and just check out the shrine. And the nostalgia rush that hit Mitsuha was a little bittersweet for her. Many of the structures and buildings reminded her of the shrine her family had in Itomori.

Having a taste of her childhood was nice, and it brought back a lot of fond memories of Itomori as a small town. _Oh! I haven't seen Tessie and Saya in forever!_ She made a note to meet up with them someday, and introduce them to Taki. But above everything else, her memories as a shrine maiden left her disgruntled. The restrictions, the ceremonies, the solemn lifestyle were those which she was glad to have left behind. Especially the sake ceremonies. And despite her best efforts to embrace her origin as a shrine maiden, or at the very least make peace with it, she still couldn't shake the embarrassment and resentment of being one. _Why do I still feel like this?_

The more of the shrine they explored, the more Mitsuha felt like she was growing up again. Vividly being able to see her memories, her highest and lowest moments. Eventually she came to the realization that everything happens for a reason, and she took a second to compare her old life to her life now. The current life that has her hand in hand with an incredible man. _I'm the same way, Taki-kun. Where would I be without you?_ She stopped him for a moment, overcome with emotions and appreciation for what she has now.

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything…right now, everything is amazing. I can't be more content with my life right now."

"Ahh. I see you're going through a little bit of an existential moment. Just like how I did at the museum. But I think your case might be a little different."

"Mm-mm. Not really. I…this whole time we've been walking through, seeing all these buildings and the activities and the architecture…I mean, I'm glad I got to taste my old life a little bit. Just for old time's sake. But…I never really realized how good I have it until…I revisited my memories."

"I think you may have that confused with something else. I didn't bring you here to make you appreciate your current life. I think if anything, I brought you here so you can appreciate how great your life in Itomori was. And to show you that your old lifestyle has a very strong presence here in this 'modern' world. This stuff doesn't go away, Mitsuha."

"So…you tricked me. You brought me here to teach me a lesson."

"Mmm, not specifically. I mean, I wanted to come here personally, too. Seeing the Miyamizu shrine through your eyes was one thing, but I never got to see it through my own. So seeing all this let me experience all of that again. Living your life for a couple weeks taught me a lot about myself. I'm sure going through here reminded you a lot about your character."

"So what's the moral of the story?"

"The point of all this is to show that you wouldn't be the woman you are, the woman I'm so madly in love with, the woman who I wanna spend the rest of my life with, without all of this. You ought to be very proud of how you got to where you are now. And that includes being a shrine maiden. And a country girl."

Overwhelmed by Taki's beautiful words, she collapsed into his arms, wanting to stay in his hold forever. And with what he just said, she came to finally accept who she is. _If he can accept me for who I am, how in the world can I not?_

They went through the rest of the shrine, greeting the priests and learning more about life at the shrine. Mitsuha was able to connect with the priests on a, dare one say, "spiritual" level, having a lot of similarities in experience. For everything Taki learned about this lifestyle, Mitsuha herself felt like she learned more than she already knew. She thought she knew everything there was, but having the priests explain the ideas a reasoning and the connection to the spiritual world behind everything they did, it shed a lot of light on her old life, and gave her a greater appreciation for it.

They bid the priests goodbye, with intention on visiting again one day, and returned to the city, where they capped off the weekend with dinner and grocery shopping. When they got home and got settled, they realized that during that whole weekend, they both had to endure and come to terms with some rather uncomfortable memories. So they took a moment to express their appreciation for each other.

"Mitsuha…I just realized that…both of us had to remember stuff we'd rather not. And I dunno about you, but having you with me, having you by my side when I was having all these memories trigger, was all I could ask for. I know it sounds cheesy, but I felt like I fell in love with you all over again."

"Took the words out of my mouth. I don't think I'd be nearly the same person if it weren't for you. You taught me a lot about myself, things I didn't really even know. It's funny. I had this feeling that maybe we didn't know each other as well as we thought. But from what happened this weekend…I know I can always fall into you when I'm down."

Taki kept his words to himself, and let his feelings take over, as he pulled her into his body and enveloped her in his warmth. The passion and mutual energy evolved their embrace into a kiss, where they lost themselves in the heat of the moment. And before they knew it, the night melted away, and the expenditure of energy knocked them out, just in time to wake up for work the next day.

* * *

Taki arrived to a very tense and unstable atmosphere. As far as he knew, it should've been just a regular day at work. No board members, no financial group moguls, no one out of the ordinary coming in today. Yet everyone was nervous. Several small groups of about 3 or 4 people were talking amongst themselves, with Taki noticing a morbid tone in everyone's voice. Many of these people were actually crying, others on the verge of doing so. Among everything else, though, the thing that stood out to Taki the most was the feeling of uncertainty; everyone looked lost, like they had no sense of direction, like their guide to the world had just disappeared.

"Tachibana-san!"

Taki turned around to see the director, walking towards him slowly, with a somber look on his face, the kind that people make when someone they know just died. _Oh no…did someone…_

"We…well…just…please come with me."

Taki wasn't sure what to expect, and was also hoping that the ideas that he had of what was going on weren't true. This environment was not normal. The air in the office was dark, dejected. Something clearly happened. But then everything was starting to connect in Taki's head. The sadness, the disorientation, the uncertainty, someone important had died. Or maybe, at the very least, incapacitated or something. _No, impossible. If there were any chance of this person living, no one would be like this._

He then started to dart his eyes around the building, picking up faces, trying to remember who he'd seen earlier. All in an effort to figure out who was missing. Taki's heart sank when he realized who it must be, but tried to remain optimistic, and hope that the director would tell him something else.

"Tachibana-san. You worked very closely with Moroboshi-san, right?"

At that moment, Taki knew it. "I…I did."

"Would you say that he played an important role in your development here as an architectural designer?"

"Sir, he's, quite frankly, one the reasons I am with this company. He gave me the chance to do what many other firms didn't want to. He was a mentor, a teacher. I would like to think that to some degree, we were friends in a way. He's lifted me up and showed me things that have gotten me this point. I have no idea where I'd be professionally if not for him."

"That's…that's very touching. Then, it makes me regretful to be the bearer of this grim, horrible news. Tachibana-san…over the weekend, Moroboshi-san suffered from a heart attack. Currently, he is in critical condition at the hospital. At the very least, he will be hospitalized for a significant amount of time. Enough time such that his absence will disrupt the work flow. If we put aside his sentimental value as a friend, not having him as a supervisor alone puts us in a stagnant state. That is why, Tachibana-san, I am conducting interviews for his position."

Taki had just about every emotion possible envelop him. All the memories of his supervisor, going all the way back from his interview to the multiple moments of tutelage, played through his head at light speed. Conversely, the excitement for an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder filled him with motivation and enthusiasm; nothing would make him happier than the chance to do Moroboshi proud and take over in his stead. But he couldn't help but feel a little dejected, almost offended, that the director had already given up and pulled the plug, not believing in the slight chance that Moroboshi would return to health and come back one day. But he realized the logic behind it, though; even if he were to miraculously leave the hospital, it would be a very, very long time before he's in working condition.

"This is a very unique opportunity. I…I honestly am not sure how to handle this right now. Y'know, for everything you must feel about Moroboshi, I'm sure I feel the same by at least 10 times. He was to you like I was to him. He was the first designer that I hired, so he's a bit special to me. To see him do all these great things has been heartwarming; I'd say what he's done is one of the reasons why I'm a director now. Anyway. There obviously isn't enough time to provide proper supervisor training, so whoever gets this spot will be presented with a brand new challenge. Not only for themselves, but for everyone else involved as well. Keep that in mind, as you will be one of the candidates for this position."

Taki had to pause for a moment, as the reality of the moment sank in. It wasn't that long ago that he'd been told that it would be an indefinite amount of time before he can move up. He had to cast aside the circumstances, and his personal feelings for his supervisor, to mentally prepare himself for this interview.

"Thank you very much! I look forward to competing for this spot!"

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 **A/N: Howdy, fellas! Not much from me this time, other than an apology for the long gap between chapters. They'll come out faster now (I hope). But I've kind of made it an effort to make these chapters longer, and capture more action within them. I supposed that's what's causing these delays. Anyway, as usual, thanks a ton if you're still with me. I've still got a lot floating in my head I'd like to put to writing, so a huge kudos to those who read even a sentence of my story. Catch whoever in the next one. Cheers.**


	13. Chapter 13

"Taki-kun, is that you?"

Mitsuha had just been relaxing on their bed, browsing the Internet on her laptop and such. Usually around this time, she'd be preparing dinner, but earlier in the day, Taki called her and told her he wanted to go out for dinner, to celebrate. When she asked what they were celebrating, he told her he wanted to wait until he could tell her in person. She had a pretty good idea of what it was, though.

The sound of Taki's dress shoes against the floor made it apparent that he was home, and Mitsuha could only manage to get up and put her laptop down before she found herself in Taki's bearhug. He was crying, uncontrollably. He radiated with happiness and a feeling of accomplishment. "Mitsuha…Mitsuha…"

"I…I think I know what's going on. Congratulations, darling." Mitsuha wrapped her arms around Taki, stroking his back and burying her head into his chest.

"I did it…Mitsuha, I did it."

"So does that make you Supervisor Tachibana now?"

"Yes! Yes, it does!" Taki, stricken with emotion, tried in vain to contain himself, but the overall realization of his goal made it impossible. After trying and failing, Taki attained the position he sought after so much. And the prospect of having the life he wanted with Mitsuha became more of a reality in waiting overwhelmed him.

"Mitsuha…we can move out of this apartment…we can do so many things together now!"

But despite the ample amount of happiness in the room, Mitsuha was met with conflicting emotions. She'd grown used to living in this apartment with him. She came to appreciate the small space, and always being near him. The homey feeling and the coziness held a lot of sentiment, so while she was happy and proud of Taki for earning this promotion, she wasn't sure how she could tell him she didn't want to go anywhere, and that she was content with this apartment.

"Ye- yeah…"

Taki noticed restraint in her voice, almost regret. He almost got mad, since this wasn't exactly the reaction he wanted from her, but he decided to ask her about it first. "Mmm? You don't seem all that excited."

"Taki. I'm beyond excited for you. I'm so proud of your hard work to get this job. But…I dunno."

"C'mon, tell me. Would this have anything to do with the whole money thing?"

"It really does. I…I feel like you looked at getting this promotion as a means to an end. Just so we can move out and get a house together. I get that, and I don't fault you for wanting a nicer place to live. It's just that…I've grown so fond of this little apartment. We've shared some strong memories, powerful memories…moments that I will cherish forever. I'm not sure, it's…"

"You think if we get outta here and live somewhere else, you'll feel like we're leaving all that behind. Is that right?"

Mitsuha nodded her head, slightly choked up from emotion herself. "It's just…I want as much time with you as possible. And not only do you wanna move into a bigger space, where we won't be as close to each other, but you'll also be busier. And I'm just afraid I won't see you as often."

He disagreed a little bit, but Taki felt and understood her sentiment. _I get it. Nothing's more important to me than you, Mitsuha._ "I feel the same way. But as far as I know, I still come home the same time every day. Nothing about our time together changes. Look. I really just want you to be happy. And I think having a nice place to live would help with that."

"How soon were you looking to move out?"

"I'm not sure. Definitely not any time soon. As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm gonna be extremely busy for the next few weeks. I don't think I wanna deal with moving during that time." He noticed a look of relief on Mitsuha's face, and patted himself on the back for saying the right thing. "Tell you what. We'll stay here until your call. You'll ultimately give the green light to move out. I want you to enjoy yourself and be happy, and if staying here will do that, then I have zero problem with that." He pulled her back into a hug. "I'm the same way, sweetie. I wanna spend every single second I can with you."

"I just don't wanna rush things. Things are perfect the way they are now. And I promise, as soon as I'm ready to make a change, I'll let you know. I know how excited you are to move forward."

At dinner, Taki explained how exactly he got the job, which included the fact that his supervisor was in the hospital.

"Oh, Taki. I'm very sorry to hear that. I know how much he means to you."

"Thank you. It's gonna be a little hard to do this with all that hanging over my head. But. Better me than anyone else, I guess."

"You're gonna do great, honey. I believe in you, and clearly so does everyone else."

"Well, I dunno about that. I don't think the other candidates would necessarily agree with that."

"Well, that's too bad for them, then."

"Alright, that's enough about me. What's going with you? How's work, I feel like I don't ask you that enough."

"Taki, you ask me about work every day. And don't put the spotlight on me, this is your big moment!"

"And I just noticed too, we didn't do anything big when you got your promotion!"

"You got me a congratulatory sake, and that was good enough for me."

"Alright, then…"

"Tell me more. What else happened?"

"Nothing much. Just standard interview questions, like 'how will being a supervisor advance you' and 'where does your long term goal with this company lie in your professional goals'. But I think the one thing that got me the job was my relationship with Moroboshi. I guess hawking him and watching him do his thing paid off."

"It sure did." Mitsuha was gleaming with pride and happiness for Taki.

"But realistically, I guess the best part about all of this is having you with me to tell you. To celebrate with you."

And as per usual, their food arrived in the midst of conversation. But Mitsuha didn't let that be a distraction, and held her wine glass to about face level.

"Well here's to a very successful tenure as a supervisor, a prelude to your role as a director one day. But also a very happy life together. I don't think we've ever done that before."

"We haven't. And we had a lot of good moments to do so. But I'll absolutely settle for this."

Taki and Mitsuha clanked glasses and enjoyed their meals. And the two of them got vibes harkening back to their first night together. The one the spent at the Italian restaurant. Very much of the same sentiments and feelings were there. And they knew it seemed cheesy, but with Taki taking on this new job, it felt like they were stepping into yet another stage of their relationship. And just like last time it felt special.

The following work week couldn't have been more stressful for Taki. He spent the next week getting introduced and meeting with what felt like everyone on the entire planet, learning what their roles were and what areas of design they were responsible for. Even if you set aside the functional tasks of a supervisor, being a leader, period, was new to him. It wasn't in his personality to go out of his way and check on people. But despite all of the aneurisms he got from cramming this job into his head, he knew that at the end of the day it'd be worth it, because the paycheck was bigger.

That being said, coming home to Mitsuha everyday became much more worthwhile. The first couple days on the job, Mitsuha would pretty much have to catch him as he was collapsing from exhaustion. And every time she did, she would tell him how proud of him she was and to never stop working hard.

With work being so busy, he began to value his time with Mitsuha tremendously more. And she noticed it, too. She, if anything, thought he'd come home every day really tired, and not wanting to do anything. But he would come home with a strange amount of motivation to do something with her.

"Mitsuha, I know this sounds really, really weird. But…I've always wanted to draw you."

"You've drawn me before. It was beautiful."

"Yeah, but I was just drawing you off of memory. You're sitting right here."

"Then ask me formally."

"Really? Huh…alright. Mitsuha, will you be my model?"

Mitsuha stripped off her clothes down to her underwear, and jumped onto their bed. She laid on her side with her head propped up with her hand, with that elbow on the bed, the other arm on her side, and her legs crossed.

"Draw me like one of those Paris girls."

And she giggled at how fast Taki got aroused. He lost awareness to just about everything else in awe of Mitsuha's body. And when he realized what was going on, he shook his head violently and scrambled to find sketch paper and drawing utensils.

Her arm began to get tired holding that pose, but figured that quality art takes time to craft, and left Taki alone as he concentrated on her body. _Huh. This is new. I've never had anyone stare at my body for this long before. But. It's Taki. Wouldn't have it be anybody else._

"Alright. Done."

"Lemme see!"

Mitsuha hopped off the bed and went over to see Taki's masterpiece. And as if she could expect anything else, it was a near flawless recreation of the scene from just a few moments ago. Mitsuha had seen Taki's drawings of her before, but this was on another level. And he was right. The ones from the first time weren't as good, since he was just going off of memory. But being right here in front of him afforded Taki the ability to capture the most minor details. There were parts of Mitsuha's body depicted in the drawing she didn't even know about. And quite frankly, she almost had a hard time believing that she was as beautiful in real life as she was in this drawing.

"Taki…"

"I think it looks pretty good. What do you think?"

"Is…is this really me?"

"Yep!"

Mitsuha then began to feel a little awkward about how little clothing she was wearing in the drawing, but couldn't stop marveling at its incredibleness. And it wasn't until she happened to catch the clock when she realized how much time had gone by. She knew it'd been a while, but when she realized Taki had spent a little over 2 hours drawing her, she was taken aback at how late it was. _But, seriously, though, did I just admire myself for that long?_

"Oh, jeez, yeah it's late. We should probably get to bed. And it looks like you're all ready for it, ha ha!"

She pouted a little bit and didn't really appreciate how Taki made such a remark at the current imbalance in decency. Angrily, she turned her back and jumped in the bed, threw the sheets over her with her back turned to Taki.

 _Why's she so sensitive?_ "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Even though he didn't really understand how he could've offended her, he felt bad about it nonetheless. Seeing her upset killed any playful mood there was. He decided to let her be for a little bit while he got ready for bed, and lifted the sheets to get under them. Shifting himself closer to Mitsuha, he wrapped his arms around her stomach from behind, pressing his body against her back. "That was a little insensitive of me. I know you were just being playful. For what it's worth, you're a very, very beautiful woman with a physique to be very proud of. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your boyfriend."

It looked like Mitsuha was only half awake, as she didn't say anything back to him, but snuggled back against him, pressing against him harder. So Taki took it as a sign of forgiveness and turned out the light above him.

Taki was used to waking up to sunlight, or at least the 8am alarm, but when he opened his eyes to darkness and realized it was still the middle of the night, he got confused, and then a little cranky. But when he felt Mitsuha's hand caressing his cheek, his frustration dissipated, and proceeded to do the same to her.

"Hi, baby…"

Mitsuha's voice was low, and soft. With a very intimate inflection as it cooed a little bit. "Listen, I just wanted to…apologize. For earlier. That wasn't the most mature reaction from me. I know you were just kidding."

"I mean, I'm definitely to blame, too. I didn't mean to make you feel self-conscious. But anyway, what's going on? Why are you awake?"

Taki could feel her hand, still stroking his cheek, tremble a little bit, which all but meant she was getting a little emotional. "I actually wake up in the middle of the night like this more than you know. You usually just sleep through it. This is the first time you've woken up."

"How often does this happen?"

"Maybe every 3 nights or so. It used to be every other night, or every night, when I lived with my family. And it was even worse when I lived alone."

"Wait, you lived by yourself at one point?"

"Mmhmm. When I graduated from college, I had a place by myself. But the solitude, the loneliness, the emptiness became too much. That's why I moved back with Yotsuha and my grandmother. Just because I was getting too lonely."

"I see…"

"So…the reason I find myself caressing you like this, the reason I wake up in the middle of the night, is all because…I have to thank someone for being with me. And I do try to figure out how I got so lucky finding you again. And from what it looks like, you feel the same way." With the hand on Taki's cheek, she could feel his warm tears rolling from his eyes.

"Mitsuha…" Taki began to lose control of his emotions, and his throat became heavier. Choked up so much so that it was almost hard for him to talk. It wasn't long ago that he himself was experiencing the same feeling of being in a void. With no one to talk to. And Mitsuha was lucky; she had a strong relationship with her family. Taki, on the other hand, was a little distant from his own. "The loneliness, the quietness, the lack of…any purpose. I was a little more familiar with that than I would've liked, too." He moved hand to the back of her head, preparing to pull her closer. "You have no idea how much you mean to me."

"I'm…I'm so happy! Almost a month spending every single second with each other. And you still feel this way about me. I was so afraid that we'd grow each other out, get tired of each other. Everything was going by so fast! But all these wonderful things happening, over and over again. I want this to last forever…"

Taki cut the discourse and pulled her in, landing his lips on hers. Mitsuha wrapped her arms around his chest and tangled her legs with his, as they kissed each other to sleep yet again.

The board meeting at work was new to him. Mainly because he wasn't really sure what he could contribute. So he just rolled with it and decided the next best thing to do was to listen. He knew the director was the head honcho to some degree, but his commanding presence and aura were much stronger in this meeting.

"Okay, so now that we've gotten the plan done, we can start to get the financing done. Obviously with Moroboshi being out, we suffered some minor setbacks. However, they were only minor setbacks, and not major ones, because of the hard work from Tachibana Taki. I'd like to recognize your ability to adapt to this new role beautifully, and demonstrate a tremendous amount of leadership for the back end of the approval process. I knew you could do it, and I know you knew you could do it, but I'm not sure that anyone else in this room did. Everyone, let's take a moment to applaud Tachibana for his dedication to our cause."

Taki felt tremendous as the applause from the people in the room carried throughout. And his confidence as a supervisor shot up, and motivated him to do more work for the company. But the director was quick to redirect the attention of the meeting to its intended purpose. "So now we can move into the financing phase. Now, because of the delay caused by Moroboshi's incident, we're gonna do this a little differently. I have a list of lenders here with points-of-contact, I'm asking that each of you call the point-of-contact you're given and see what we can get from them."

 _Ha. Wouldn't it be funny if we had Mitsuha's credit union finance the mall…_

The director walked over and placed a paper down on his space of the table, and from the top of the paper, he could see that, of course it was the credit union where Mitsuha worked. Further along the paper was some general information about the organization, stuff that Taki couldn't care less about, but when he got to the bottom of the paper, he was ready to jump out of his chair in joy and happiness. Because the bottom of the paper read "Representative: Miyamizu Mitsuha". _Huh. So we're gonna be business partners now…_

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 **A/N: Heyo! Hope you guys liked this chapter, because I myself am not really sure how it turned out. I'm not sure if I want to create a co-workers arc, since I feel like it wouldn't be about Taki and Mitsuha anymore. So we'll see. I do intend to get Hitoha, as well as Yotsuha and her friends, back involved in the story, so no, I haven't forgotten about them. I also want to get Taki and Mitsuha's high school friends into the mix too, just haven't found a good opportunity to. Don't wanna just pointlessly shoehorn them into the story. I wanted to give a sincere personal thank you to all of you for your support. The fic as reached 50 followers and that to me is the biggest motivation to keep writing. And the reviews. All your kind, heartwarming reviews do more for me than you probably realize, and one of my bigger regrets is not responding to them personally like most good authors do. Any reviews from this point on, I'll make a better effort to respond to it. Thanks a ton to anyone still reading, even if you don't like it, it's still awesome to know you took your time of day to read. That's enough from me for now. Until the next one, y'all. Cheers.**


	14. Chapter 14

It could get pretty boring at work for Mitsuha. Some days were spent just playing the waiting game, as loans were getting reviewed, but her quiet and reserved nature made it hard for her to even interact with her own coworkers. She eventually got to the point where she would doodle Taki on some printer paper, the same way he himself would before. And then laugh at it when it came it to be nowhere near that which Taki could produce. _You'll have to teach me someday, Taki-kun._

The phone ringing was normal; after all, she was one of the loan reps for her company, and most of the time she wouldn't even see who was calling. But this time, she happened to glance at the caller ID and see that it was Taki's architecture firm calling. _Is Taki calling? What could he want? Oh, wait. Maybe it's not him. I'd better just answer normally._ "Thank you for calling, this is Miyamizu, how can I help you?"

Taki tried to think of something clever to say to get her to laugh, but couldn't think of anything and just ended up stuttering. "Ha-…uhh…shoot, wait a minute."

She ended up laughing anyway at his poor effort, and became happy that she got to talk to him at work. "I KNEW it was you, Taki-kun. Hi, sweetie…"

"Hey, darling, believe it or not, I was actually calling on a matter of business."

"Oh! Okay, then."

The two had a really difficult time concentrating on what he'd actually called for, and intermixed work and personal life to make the conversation much longer than it needed to be. Eventually, Taki was able to get what he needed from Mitsuha, but only after it'd been at least 5 minutes after the last guy got off the phone. Needless to say he felt a little embarrassed.

"Tachibana, you called that representative 'darling'. Was that your wife?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"Ah. From what it sounds like, she will be your wife someday, right?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get my personal life mixed into that."

"Oh no, not a problem. The only thing I do wonder is that, since you do have an extraprofessional relationship with that rep, were you able to get anything good out of that? I know it probably goes against every single one of their corruption regulations, but maybe you were able to convince her to help us out?"

"She wasn't able to make any hard commitments, but…"

It took a lot of discipline to not sugarcoat everything Mitsuha said, and cater everything so that he could be able to work with her. Ever since he became a supervisor, he began to miss her when he was at work more and more. Naturally, throughout his conversation with the director, he found himself spot-checking what he was about to say, and evaluate whether it would jeopardize a partnership between the two companies. All so that he could have a chance to see Mitsuha during the work day.

"Well. You know, I shouldn't even bother telling you this, since you won't any objections, but stay in contact with her. I like where this is going so far."

When Taki got home, the first thing Mitsuha did was lay down ground rules for their lives, wanting to keep work and their personal lives as separate as possible.

"When we're off the clock, we don't talk about work, okay? I look forward to coming home and seeing you, and that entails not having to worry about work, alright? Listen, I'm really excited to able to talk to you during work every day. But when we're here by ourselves, let's keep it about us. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am."

"Good. Now let's figure out something to do. It's Friday."

* * *

A combination of not being able to think of anything with being genuinely content with doing so anyway led them to go back to the mall. To get dinner and drinks and whatnot, maybe browse some of the stores. Part of them was also hoping that they might run into something, or someone, that would set in motion a fun, unexpected night. But worst case they would just hang out with each other. Not that either of them had any problem with that.

"It'll be about 25-30 minute wait, is that okay?" The restaurant they chose was crowded, but neither of them exactly minded waiting. What else were they going to do?

"That'll be okay."

They went over to the waiting area and sat down, but found themselves at an impasse with how to pass the time. They'd just agreed to not talk about work off the clock, and they've basically exhausted every personal conversation possible.

"Do you…I dunno, wanna play twenty questions?"

"What's that?"

"One of us thinks of something, an object or person or whatever, and the other asks 20 yes-or-no questions. And based on the answers, use reasoning to try to figure out what they're thinking."

"Oh, okay! That sounds fun!"

"Alright I'll go first."

"Sure. Hmm…is it a…person?"

"Yes."

"Is it a real life person?"

"Yes."

"Is it me?"

"Are you kidding me…"

"You're so lame!"

"Okay, okay. For real this time. I got one."

"Alright, then. Is it me?"

"Nope. There goes your first question."

The remaining nineteen questions went by in a cinch, with very little revealed about this mystery thing.

"That's twenty already?"

"Yep! Now you gotta guess."

"I…you stumped me. I literally can't think of anything. I give up."

"It's a fork!"

"That's so stupid…"

"Mitsuha-chan?"

From behind, the couple could hear a soft voice. That which belonged to a young woman around their age. Mitsuha almost froze in shock at the possibility of who it could be, but couldn't be too sure. After all, when she saw Taki at the top of the stairs that one day, she didn't immediately know it was him.

But when Mitsuha turned around, it took all her will to not scream out loud in joy. "Saya-chi!" The two girlfriends hugged in reunion; it'd actually been a pretty long time since they'd seen each other. Of course accompanying Saya was her fiancée, Tessie. By proximity and common relations, he became immediately associated with Taki. And couldn't help but feel a little weird that he'd been matched tick for tack, if not slightly surpassed, in terms of masculinity. _Shoot. He's better looking than me…_

Taki took the initiative, cleared his throat, and held his hand out for an introductory handshake. "I'm Tachibana Taki. Nice to meet you." _Wait. I've totally seen this guy before!_

"Teshigawara Katsuhiko. Pleasure."

When the girls finished fawning over each other, their attention returned to the boys, and of course Mitsuha already knew Tessie, and Taki was able to meet Sayaka through Mitsuha's body, but as far as she knew, Saya was meeting a whole new person.

When Mitsuha and Tessie finished exchanging pleasantries she stepped back to Taki and began to introduce him. "Guys, this is Taki. The love of my life." As she was finishing her last sentence, she looked back at Taki, partly to admire him, but also hoping he would say something cool to them and impress them.

"I've acquainted myself with Tessie already. Nice to meet you, I'm Tachibana Taki."

"Wait. Did you just call him Tessie? How did you know we call him that?"

 _Shoot! They don't know who I am! They have no idea I was in Mitsuha's body for a couple weeks! What am I supposed to say?_ "Uhh, well, umm…"

"I've mentioned you guys to him before."

 _Phew. Thanks, sweetheart_.

"Oh! Well that makes sense then. Either way, sorry about that, I'm Natori Sayaka. Nice to meet you."

After Taki and Saya got done introducing themselves, Mitsuha chimed in and pointed out how coincidental their encounter was. Or was it? "That's so crazy, I was just gonna ask you guys if you were free this weekend!"

"Yeah, what are the odds that we'd meet in a random restaurant?"

To Saya and Tessie, it was an incredible stroke of luck, but for Taki and Mitsuha, it was just another thing in their lives. "Oh, how long have you guys been here? Are you waiting for a table for two?"

"We are. Should we go and ask if there's any tables for four?"

Of course waiting for a bigger table extended their wait time by another 15 minutes, but none of them cared; it only meant more time to catch up and, for Taki, get to know this other party better. But even though they were here as couples, the guys and girls ended up talking amongst themselves. Mitsuha and Saya talked about girl things, but Taki and Tessie had more of a casual, more introductory conversation about things like work and background and stuff.

Every now and then Mitsuha would pick out things from Taki's conversation with Tessie, and from it looked like they were getting along smoothly. Both were engineers, after all, and it wasn't long before they put their civil and mechanical engineering backgrounds together to devise some crazy idea.

Dinner passed almost uneventfully, and the foursome found themselves outside with no idea what to do next.

"Do you guys live near here?"

 _Oh no. Not this again_. Still suffering from the mild trauma from the last time he had guests over, he was a little fearful of something like that happening again. But he remembered that these were adults, people older than him, in fact. And not a bunch of teenage girls. _I guess it wouldn't hurt_.

"Oh that's really close to here!"

 _TALK ABOUT DÉJÀ VU, THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT YOTSUHA'S FRIENDS SAID, WORD FOR WORD!_

"Come back to our place! Taki-kun, is that okay with you?"

 _Why does it always end up being my apartment?_ "Uhh, yeah, sure. I don't have a problem with that."

Taki felt like the tour of his apartment complex was becoming a regular thing, and by doing so, he'd come to learn things about it that he didn't even know himself. "There's a basketball court over on that other side, before Mitsuha moved in, I would shoot around there a lot."

He wasn't sure why, but Tessie became naturally hung up on the basketball court. It was weird. He didn't play basketball in high school, or sports in general for that matter. Why did it mean so much to him that there was a basketball court?

"And some of the neighbors here are-"

"Tachibana-san."

"…uhh. Yes, Teshigawara-san?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. But I challenge you to a one-on-one basketball game!"

 _WHAT?!_

 _WHAT?!_

 _Uhh…_

The other three collectively scratched their heads, as none of them were sure what he could be thinking challenging Taki to a basketball game. Taki was an all-district shooting guard in his heyday, Tessie didn't play any sports whatsoever, and Saya and Mitsuha knew that very well.

 _Well who knows. He could be good._ Tessie was roughly the same height as Taki, and possessed a lot more bulk than him.

"Hehe. Sure. We can play some basketball later." Tessie felt a little offended, because Taki's tone and body language seemed like he took it as kind of a joke. Taki definitely didn't think of it as anything more than just something to do together.

As Taki toured them around the rest of the complex, Saya took the time to question Tessie's bold decision. "Tessie, what are you doing?!" She violently whispered in Tessie's ear, hoping that Taki and Mitsuha wouldn't notice.

"I…I wanna prove that I'm a bigger man than him."

"WHAT?!"

Her reaction got the attention of Taki and Mitsuha, who stopped in their tracks and turned around to see what was going on. "Everything okay?"

"Hehe! Uhh, nothing!"

"Hmm. Okay. Well, we're done with the complex. Tessie if you're still down to play some ball, let's do it."

Tessie knew he was out of his league, but his desire to establish himself as an alpha-male was too strong.

"Tessie, why are you doing this? This isn't like you, you never care about this kind of stuff."

"I...I dunno. There's obviously something Mitsuha really likes about him, and…"

"Katsuhiko, is there something you're not telling me?"

"No! It's just, I think he thinks he's all that."

"Are you serious, Tessie, he's such a nice guy!"

"We're about to find out, then."

"This is ridiculous!"

After seeing Taki knock down consecutive warm-up threes, Tessie prepared himself for the worst, but tried to tell himself there wasn't anything to worry about. _Worst case, he beats me really bad and I can say "Hey you played in high school." Oh what am I doing…_

"First to 7?"

Of course Tessie had no idea what that meant, but didn't want to make it apparent. His masculinity was already in pretty deep water. "Uhh, sure."

"Alright then. Check." Taki bounced the ball to Tessie, who just looked at it without any idea what 'check' meant.

"Wait…what?"

"Oh! Uhh, hehe, 'check' is just what you say for the other person to inbound it for you."

Tessie had never felt so clueless about anything in his life, and immediately regretted doing this. He had the blankest stare on his face and he knew it. And he expected Taki to judge him like no other. But he'd learn a lot about him soon enough.

"Hehe. Just bounce the ball back to me."

Tessie followed the order, and Taki popped up a shot the second the ball got back to his hands. And the ball ripped through the net. "2-0. Tell you what, we'll play losers."

"Uhh…"

"Haha. 'Losers' means that when one guy scores, the other gets the ball. The other way is 'winners' when the guy who scores keeps the ball."

"Ohh okay, so it's my, uhh, possession?"

"Exactly! See, you know sports!"

It was a little comforting to know Taki wasn't taking this contest seriously at all, and was more or less using it to bond with him more. _I can't believe I judged him like that_.

"So now, you say 'check' and bounce it to me."

"Okay. Check."

And when the ball got back to Tessie, he tried to answer Taki's bomb with one of his own, but the ball pathetically sailed out of bounds without hitting the basket.

"Hehe. Shooting threes is tough. Check."

And instead of shooting a three, this time Taki sped right past Tessie and effortlessly dropped the ball in the basket for a lay-up. "It's a lot easier to score close to the basket than from out there."

Tessie, being the fast learner that he is, checked the ball to Taki without him saying anything.

"That's good! You're getting the hang of it already! Now, a tip for you to score. You're a lot bigger and stronger than me. So if you turn your back to me, and keep backing up and pushing me back further towards to basket, you'll be a lot closer and you'll have a much easier shot."

Tessie began to implement his lesson and turned his back to Taki, and did exactly what Taki instructed him to do. And with a little bit of help from the master himself, Tessie put the ball through the hoop.

"Nice shot!"

The competitive atmosphere disappeared instantly, and they just started fooling around and jacking up bad shots. Eventually Mitsuha and Saya joined in, and the next hour or so was spent just messing around with the basketball and having a good time as a group. Taki was an athlete, and Mitsuha in a way could be considered one too, but neither Tessie nor Saya had an ounce of athletic blood in them, and were dead tired afterwards.

"If you guys need water, we've got some at our place." Mitsuha couldn't help but smile at how fast Taki had bonded with her two best friends, but at the same time wasn't surprised in the slightest.

The huffing and puffing couple took up Taki's offer, and tiredly dragged themselves to his nearby apartment. And even though they had every reason to be tired, both of them felt rather ashamed that they were so exhausted. But at the end of the day, no one was gonna pass any judgement for it anyhow.

And just like Yotsuha and her friends, Saya and Tessie didn't hesitate to explore Taki and Mitsuha's living space. Being the more established couple, their apartment was a lot bigger, since it was intended for 2 people. But just like Mitsuha, they found the tight space cozy.

"Mitsuha, when you move in here?"

"About a month ago."

They all gathered at the dinner table over water and some snacks, and spent more time just talking and sharing their lives.

"Oh, by the way, our wedding's in two months."

"Mmm! When was this planned?"

"We finalized the date just last week. So I bring this up now, because you, Mitsuha, are gonna be my maid of honor?"

"Maid of honor, what's that?"

"Oh! Oh, I should probably mention that we're doing a Western style wedding. So, how Americans get married is they have a group of their closest companions with them during the ceremony, friends, family members, anyone close to them. The bride, which is me, chooses her best girlfriends to be their bridesmaids, and the groom, meaning Tessie, chooses his best guy friends to be his groomsmen. Here! Check it out!"

Saya pulled out her phone, and presented Mitsuha and Taki pictures of a traditional Western wedding, and Mitsuha of course found the idea of bridesmaids and groomsmen to be very endearing; having the people most important to them right there would make the whole experience more special.

"Oh, cooool! Wait, so then is the maid of honor like…"

"Yep, the maid of honor is like the super bridesmaid. Usually a spot for the bride's best friend or closest family member."

"So does Tessie have to do the same?"

"Yep…" Tessie interjected, with a sort of depressed tone. His eyes were glued to the table, and his body language made it apparent that he wanted the topic to change. And so, it didn't take a genius to realize what the internal dilemma with the idea of a best man and groomsmen was.

"Oh…" Mitsuha looked right at Taki, hoping he would step and say or do something to not make Tessie feel so bad. He didn't, though, and instead shot back a look that said 'I just met this guy!'

He did feel for Tessie, though. He knew what it was like to be attached to the same two people, and having no one to turn to when neither of them were available. He was in a way glad that he wasn't in this spot, since he himself would have a pretty hard time thinking of who his groomsmen would be, outside of his two friends from high school. But if there was anything he learned about Tessie in the last hour or so, it's that he isn't completely at peace with himself, and he thought about offering his comradery and being his best man. But he didn't want to risk offending him and having Tessie interpret it as a show of pity. So he decided to keep his mouth shut.

So Mitsuha decided to do it for him. "Well, Taki can at the very least be one of your groomsmen."

"Really? Would you, Tachibana?"

Taki nodded his head in agreement. "Absolutely. I know we just met and everything, but I would for sure be willing to be in your wedding party."

"Oh yeah, that's right, the conglomerate of the bridesmaids and groomsmen is called the wedding party. Have you seen a western wedding before, Tachibana?"

"I've heard the term tossed around here and there."

For Tessie's sake, they called it a night, and the couple left the apartment after bidding farewell. As soon as she closed the door, Mitsuha ran back to Taki with a concerned look on her face. "Taki, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

"Oh, don't worry. I was actually thinking of saying just that. But I didn't want him to think I was pitying him. He doesn't look like he's into this whole groomsmen thing."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. He just looked so sad, I wanted to make him feel better. And you saw, he perked up a little when you agreed to be one of his groomsmen. But either way, it wasn't fair for me to throw you out there like that. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"It's not a problem at all. Now, the night is still young. Would you like to continue our date?" The night really wasn't young, it was already 12 in the morning.

But Mitsuha beamed with glee and held her arm out to hook with Taki's, and they ventured back into the night to enjoy each other, and also perhaps to evaluate where they themselves stood as a couple.

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 **A/N: Hey everyone! Again, nothing much from me this time. Just wanna give a huge thank you to anyone still reading. And perhaps an apology to anyone who didn't like the way I portrayed Saya and Tessie, but specifically Tessie. I know he wasn't anything like this in the movie, but it sets up his role for next chapters to come. But, yeah, that's it! Again, thanks a ton to those still along for the ride; it's 14 chapters in, and it's a lot, but there's a lot left to go! See whoever whenever. Cheers.**


	15. Chapter 15

Neither of them were in any mood to go home, so they decided to take the road to sobriety and went to a nearby 24-hour convenience store. From the way they walked in, it was clear as day what mental condition they were in, despite it being a little before 2 in the morning.

"You guys all good there?" They weren't sure whether the clerk was being sarcastic or genuinely concerned. Perhaps the former, since the scene before him wasn't anything he wasn't used to. If anything, Taki and Mitsuha were probably one of the more sober couples he's seen walk in this late.

"Oh, yeah! We're, uhh, we're just gonna get some water!"

With the erhaps they were a little more drunk than he thought, so he chuckled and just said "okay".

They walked around the store for what seemed like an hour, stumbling and almost devoid of balance. When they finally found the water, the two of them looked at each other with a look that said "you pick it up".

"Ugh. Fine. I'll get it." Within seconds there were multiple large water bottles on the floor, creating loud thuds and snaps of plastic as they hit the ground.

"Pick it up, please! You're making a scene!"

"Okay, okay! Uhh…"

Every moment that passed made picking up the bottles increasingly difficult. Each hilariously failed attempt to pick one up was followed by a grunt of frustration.

"Oh forget it, I'll get them."

"Yeah! Let's see how you like it!"

"I believe I have to…wait. Where'd they go?"

"The bottles are over here, you fool."

"Oh. Yeah I knew that."

The clerk had seen enough and ventured across the store to their much-needed assistance. "Okay, I think I can take it from here. Just two of these bottles?"

"Wait, who are you?"

"JUST…go to the counter."

On his way back to the register, he mentally prepared himself for the crusade that would be either of them finding a way to pay for the water. Determined to redeem himself for failing to pick up the bottles, Taki the initiative to pay for the stuff. "Phew. Okay. One moment, sir."

Taki reached into his wallet and pulled out a couple pieces of paper that definitely weren't bills of yen. The clerk was both amused and somewhat annoyed when he saw that Taki had pulled out the receipt from the ramen restaurant and the stub from the museum ticket, instead of the money that would pay for the water.

"That's not money, Taki! You're embarrassing me!"

"Hang on, I'm trying!"

It almost seemed like this was being done on purpose, because Taki was emptying his wallet of everything except the 1000-yen bill he needed to pay for the water. Splattered over the counter were credit cards, business cards, and as luck would have it a lewd picture of Mitsuha.

"TAKI, WHAT IS THAT?!"

"Oh!" Taki swiped the picture back, hoping the clerk didn't see it. "You, uhh, weren't supposed to see that."

Without another moment's hesitation, two men entered the building, and placed a 1000-yen bill on the counter, cleaned up the mess on the counter, and helped Taki and Mitsuha out the building, but not before apologizing to the clerk for their current state, who just laughed and held up hand up in farewell.

Outside, both men were fuming, at a loss for words that they had to bail Taki and Mitsuha out of a pretty embarrassing situation. "Are you guys okay?"

"Heeeyyy, did you steal that water from the store?"

"Okay, that's it, you guys are done. We're taking you home, where do you guys live?"

"Weee live on the other side of the raaaiiinbooowww…"

"Oh check his driver's license." The stocky brown-haired guy remembered that that was one of the cards in the mess Taki had made in the store.

"Oh yeah, it's right here." The black-haired man in glasses shuffled through the cards he picked up and found Taki's driver's license, and pinpointed his place of residence.

"Phew. Thankfully it's not too far away. Let's get these guys home."

Along the way, the two men conversed while laboring the drunk couple home. "Huh. Looks like Taki found someone after all."

"Yeah. He did. It's weird though. It'd been so long since we'd seen him that it's probable that they've been dating for months. And, like, this is our best friend."

"Heeeyyy, are you guys talking about meee?"

"Just keep moving, buddy. We're almost there. I think."

Taki and Mitsuha got heavier and heavier as the journey went on, and the fatigue started to settle in. They walked almost aimlessly for miles, and eventually they were so tired that they themselves almost felt drunk in a way. But they signed up for the task, and were determined to see it through. It's not like could've just left them in the middle of nowhere. When they finally got to Taki's apartment complex, one of them happened to glance to the side, and quickly became disappointed with what he saw.

"Oh my god, dude… look."

"Wha-… aww. Are you serious…"

Both of them were feeling pretty dejected when they realized the entire walk back could've been prevented, had they known that there was a train station right next to Taki's apartment complex.

"Well. Now we know."

"Yeah. Okay, now the fun part. How do we get them upstairs?" Taki's room was on the second floor, and thankfully not on the 3rd or higher. They were met with a few different dilemmas here. It didn't help that both of them were pretty beat from the walk, but neither of them knew exactly how to address Mitsuha, or who would be the one to carry her up.

"Okay, look, I'm spoken for, I don't wanna have to do that."

"But you're, like, smaller than me. Wouldn't it make sense that I carry the heavier person?"

"Wha- I'm smaller than you, what's that supposed to mean? Anyway, it's gonna be a struggle either way, guy."

"Grrrr. Fine! I'll take the girl."

"Are we going on a roller coasteeerrr?"

"Yes, Taki, you're gonna go on a ride now."

On the way up, the larger of the two felt the need to comment on a couple things. "The girl's been awfully quiet. Actually, they've both been pretty quiet."

"Yeah."

"What was the girl's name, again? Misoha?"

"Iii'm Mitsuhaaa."

"Okay. Mitsuha. Sorry."

When they finally got to Taki's room, they were tired enough to collapse and spend the rest of the night at his door step. But it didn't matter what would happen here if they didn't get Taki's door open.

"Get his key, dude."

"What, just take it from him?"

"Look at him. Do you really think he could stop you if he wanted to?"

"Good point." The man carrying Taki took his front door key, and opened the door to Taki's apartment. They made a B-line to Taki's bed to set them down. Mitsuha was set down gently, but Taki was almost thrown onto his bed.

"Dude! Are you trying to make him vomit or something?"

"Okay, they're honestly not too far of that at this point."

"And make sure you turn them to their side too! Wouldn't want them to drown in their own vomit."

"I sure hope you're joking."

"I'm not. People lying on their back actually choke on themselves when they throw up."

"Well, excuse me for being civil and never being drunk ever."

Despite what their bodies may have been experiencing, Taki and Mitsuha at least looked to be sleeping peacefully. The feeling of the bed more than likely knocked them out. Without an idea of what else they could do, the two men decided to depart.

But before they left, one of them took a pen and paper from Taki's desk, and started writing.

"What are you doing?"

"Just leaving them a note. They probably won't remember any of what just happened."

"Oh, shoot. I'm not feeling so good either."

"You okay?"

"Well I had a little bit to drink too. And all that walking and carrying them probably didn't help."

"Then, here. Take this." He handed him a nearby wastebasket fearing for the worst.

And not even a full second later, he found himself trying to ignore the sound of his friend vomiting. _I'm really glad I don't drink._ As he was finishing his note, he turned back to his friend, mostly in impatience.

"You done?"

"Phew. Yeah. I'm good. We can go now."

* * *

Waking up to darkness generally wasn't a good thing. It only meant bad sleeping habits were forming. But waking up to darkness and a throbbing headache was a different story. Taki felt like there was a big metal block just sitting on top of his head, and a big metal clamp pressing the sides of it. It was one of the most torturous feelings he'd ever experienced. Suddenly, he felt his stomach start to churn, and the slightest movement would twist his stomach in all sorts of different directions. Not wanting to take any chances of soiling his sleeping area, he sprinted to the bathroom, and unloaded his bowels into the toilet.

And while his head was in the can, he felt like his was on a tilt-a-whirl, spinning rapidly and uncontrollably. The dizziness would just induce more vomiting, and he remained in the bathroom for another 20 minutes, the last 5 of which was spent painfully dry-heaving.

When he recollected his composure, and regained the mental stability to make his way back to bed, he glanced in the mirror, noticing that he was wearing exactly what he wore the night before. Or rather just a few hours ago. It was fairly obvious what happened, but this whole feeling was new to him. He'd never gone that far with alcohol. _Jeez, what happened last night?_

With his head still pounding, he lumbered back to bed, and found Mitsuha passed out on his bed, also wearing the same outfit from the night. And as he reclaimed more and more of his awareness, a foul smell became more apparent. As if he had to wonder what it could be. _Where's it coming from, though?_ It wasn't before long before he found his wastebasket stained and filled with vomit. And the worst part was he had no idea who'd done this. But it wasn't like he could remember, anyway.

He picked up the wastebasket to dispose of the excrements, but not before he noticed a note on his desk. His disorientation made hard to even process the characters, let alone what they meant at all. So using all of his concentration, he was able to read and understand what the note said:

 _Taki and Mitsuha:_

 _You guys probably don't remember anything from last night. You guys went pretty hard! Anyway, if you haven't already noticed, we went ahead and took you guys home. Neither of you were in any condition to walk back. Anyway, despite whatever hangover you guys will inevitably feel, I hope you guys had a good time last night, because we sure as hell did. It was nice to meet you, Mitsuha, and it was nice to catch up with you again, Taki. It'd been a while since we last talked. We should definitely hang out again. Just hit us up whenever you wanna grab drinks. Maybe not as many as last night though. Anyway, god speed and a peaceful journey back to sobriety, guys!_

 _Shinta and Tsukasa_

Shinta and Tsukasa. Taki's two and only friends on high school. Of course with the way their lives were progressing, none of them had much contact with each other. But regardless, he held the two of them to a pretty high esteem.

To him, it wasn't fair though. Mitsuha had the luxury of remembering her reunion with her friends. And the joy and laughs they all shared together. Even though he'd met them before, he'd come to genuinely like Saya and Tessie. Perhaps not so much bitter that he didn't really get to see his friends again, but rather he was embarrassed that they got to see him in such incapacitation. For everything he didn't remember, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that their phones were almost at capacity with pictures and videos of Taki's drunkenness. Ones that they would inevitably use for blackmail or punishment in the future.

Despite all of that, he wished he'd been able to see them, and remember what they'd done last night. It had indeed been a while seen they'd last spoke. But the sentiments quickly melted away, because the smell of the vomit in the bin became overbearing and he went ahead and cleaned it out, dumping its contents into the toilet. His head began to spin again, and before long, he lost control of the bin he was holding and fell forward, barely catching himself and preventing a harsh impact with the granite surface. One by one, his body parts gave up on him, and his legs folded and put him on the floor.

"Taki?"

 _Wh-…what? Mitsuha?_

Taki could feel and hear heavy, disoriented footsteps towards the bathroom, and he was soon met with a hungover and very dizzy Mitsuha, who, just like him, collapsed from her body abandoning her.

She ended up on the floor, right next to Taki. She was still a pretty loopy, but nothing was going to stop her from pouncing to Taki's rescue. Even though she herself was in no condition to do anything. But she somehow made her way over to Taki. And dragged herself on top of him and cradled his head with her arms.

"Are you okay, Taki-kun?"

Despite both of their drunkenness, the lust in their eyes was still there, and the clouded judgement created ludicrous fantasies that would normally be deemed too raunchy under regular circumstances. So at 3 in the morning on the bathroom floor, they did the totally normal thing and kissed, disregarding the fact that either of them could vomit instantaneously.

30 minutes later, they were in a mental state where then they could at least pretend to be sober. After Taki helped Mitsuha off the floor, she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into him again. Taki did the same, holding her and stroking her back to soothe her.

"You know how I know last night was fun?"

"How?"

"I don't remember anything."

"Did you see the nice note on the table?"

"Yes I did. That was very noble of them."

"Indeed. We should probably thank them some way."

"With what? More drinks?"

It was funny for just a few seconds, but the idea and taste of liquor made them very sick very fast. And the queasiness overtook all other emotions.

But Taki took a second to think about what was going on. And wasn't surprised in the slightest. Every time he felt like he'd had every experience possible with Mitsuha, something new happens. Last night was the first time he'd ever gotten drunk with her. He was sure she felt the same way, but it was of course really endearing to know that he could trust her when he has a little too much to drink. That was a rather gratifying feeling.

"My goodness. It's only Saturday morning."

"Yeah. I love how long these weekends feel now."

"Hey. You know what'd be really cool?"

"What's that?"

"If we can get everyone together for lunch or dinner. I think everyone would get along. Granted I don't remember any of how Shinta and Tsukasa acted, but I'm sure they're swell guys. I mean, they took us home, after all."

"Oh yeah, huh. Well, sure. That sounds good!"

"Not much we can do now, though. It's not even 4 in the morning."

* * *

"So! How was this morning?" Shinta was still reeling over the two of them being embarrassingly drunk, but was still genuinely curious to know how that morning went.

"Mitsuha, I can't believe you got drunk! Oh, I wish I could've seen that, ha ha ha ha!" Saya could never have envisioned a scenario where Mitsuha had so much to drink that she started to act really silly.

"It was alright. Pretty interesting way to wake up, right, sweetie?" Taki turned to his girlfriend, only to find her disgruntled and clearly humiliated by the whole thing. Not in any mood for discourse over her little episode.

"Hehe. She's doing okay. Anyway, where's Tsukasa?"

"With his fiancée."

Oh. That's right. Tsukasa's fiancée. Okudera-senpai. Even though it shouldn't have really mattered, Taki still felt a little embittered that they ended up together. After everything he'd been through. It worked out in the end, because he found his true soulmate and everything. But his own cynicism caused him to interpret his last conversation with Miki a little differently than most people would. Almost like she was happy that she didn't end up with Taki. _She means nothing to me, anymore._

Mitsuha was afraid, though. She knew him better than anyone else. He'd opened up about her before. Even going back to when they were teenagers. She was well aware that emotions concerning Okudera were bitter, almost hostile, and it's by proximity and relations that he now has a small amount of resentment toward one of his own best friends.

Only because she understood his sentiment. She wasn't particularly thrilled when Saya and Tessie got engaged. Of course she was happy as a friend, but at some point she herself felt a little unpleasant that she was still alone. So even though Taki was grateful that Tsukasa took him home, part of him wanted to have nothing to do with him. Because it was a part of him that he'd rather leave behind. Mitsuha didn't want that.

It was, of course, nice to know that Taki held her to such a regard that he felt like she was all he needed. Since that was exactly how she felt about him.

"Oh. Okay." The indifference in his voice was obvious, letting everyone at the table, which included Saya, Tessie, and Shinta, that he couldn't care less about Tsukasa at that moment. In the middle of the same café where he'd spent so much time, where he shared a lot of happy memories with his friends and of course Mitsuha, he was having a little internal conflict, casting a little bit of a cloud over the mood at the table. Mitsuha figured it'd be best to change the subject.

"That's okay! We're all here! It's so nice that we all got together."

"That's right. It was really nice to meet you, Saya and Tessie. Here's to good times. May we hang out and do cool things together for a long time."

Taki seemed to perk up a little, and joined the table as they bumped coffee cups in cheers. Honoring their new friendship.

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 **A/N: Salutations, readers! So yeah, it has been a little longer than I intended from the last time I put up a chapter, but I got it done. One of the things I've noticed is that since the story is moving into a more progressive state instead of a recounting one, the narrative isn't quite as eloquent or articulate as it was when the fic was young. So I can only hope that the dialogue and course of action is enough to create a good story. Regarding this chapter, I tampered with liquor for the first time about a week ago (in a controlled environment, of course), and the hijinks and subsequent agony gave me inspiration for this chapter. I'm really happy to be getting the other characters into the mix, and I've got so many ideas for how that's gonna go along. So that being said, anyone whose stuck around since the beginning, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every time I feel like the fic is heading towards discharge, there's always something that brings me back. Old and new readers alike, you guys are awesome, and this one has really become one for you guys. Everyone has their own ideas for the afterstory that Taki and Mitsuha so definitely deserve, and it's nice to know mine has this kind of support and following. Again, thanks guys so much for reading. I'll catch whoever in the next one. Hopefully not too long now. Cheers.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Hey. Taki. Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Truly…how do you feel about Okudera-senpai?"

Taki paused for a second, mapping out his words carefully in his head. He knew that there was an answer that Mitsuha wanted to hear. Well, at the very least, an answer that would upset her. But he wasn't sure what it was.

"Honestly. Do you want the honest answer? Mitsuha?"

"Yes. It's clearly still bothering you. Is there something I should know?"

"'Something you should know', what are you talking about?"

"DO YOU STILL HAVE FEELINGS FOR HER?"

Despite how confident he was in his love for Mitsuha, it hurt. It hurt to hear his own beloved question his devotion to her. After everything they'd been through. He thought by now there wouldn't be a sliver of doubt between them. So why all of the sudden is this becoming a problem? Again?

"Do…do you hear yourself? You're asking me if I still like Okudera? Even after I've made it evident…time and time again…that I love you with every ounce of my body… that there isn't a chance that I'd abandon you, ever. For any reason. Mitsuha, I'm…"

The words cut too deep, and the emotions were becoming too much. It hurt him. Never mind the fact that he was being reintroduced to such a resented part of his past, it was coming between him and his true love.

"Taki…" Mitsuha, ever regretful about her recent choice of words, started to move her legs. In an effort to charge for him. And apologize to him. But something was stopping her. Guilt? Grief? Maybe it was doubt after all. But he was right. He'd done enough to prove his loyalty to her. Seeing him in this kind of anguish wasn't pleasant. Knowing it was her fault didn't help either.

"Taki, I…I didn't mean…"

For the first time in a month, Taki and Mitsuha had become voluntarily separated. Taki left the apartment in tears, needing fresh air and perhaps a place to think and clear his thoughts. Mitsuha was left powerless, petrified by remorse, and ultimately furious with herself. But the oddest thing is that…the whole reason she asked him in the first place was to try to quell any lingering hostility towards Okudera. She wanted to clear out any negative or resentful thoughts of her, just so he would be happy in the end. Misinterpretation is powerful, and now Taki is beside himself.

 _Taki…_

* * *

The past month with Mitsuha felt like the longest of his life. He would've been a liar if he said he didn't enjoy every single second of it. So much had happened, and it felt like years had passed. Yet, as he walked through Tokyo, wandering around aimlessly as he drained out his thoughts, it still felt like yesterday he was living his life with very little purpose. He used to dread weekends since he didn't always have someone to spend it with. In fact, there were times where he was excited to go to work, because he had something to do, and had people to interact with.

And deep down in his heart, nothing changed between him and Mitsuha. He still loved her dearly. There wasn't an ounce within his body that wanted to be away from her for too long. Really, what bothered him so much was the fact that Mitsuha still had concerns. Still wondered whether Taki's heart was really where she thought it was, or where she wanted it to be. But the more he thought about it, the less he questioned it.

He hadn't been the kind of active boyfriend that most others. A lot of what he'd said and done, to and for her, were in response to her own words and actions. The extent of their relationship was "what do you wanna do this weekend". Some grocery shopping, some domestic support, and of course some… extracurricular activities. But at the end of the day, Mitsuha was still a little fragile inside. Witnessing her home town get destroyed by a natural disaster, the turmoil of having no one to turn to in loneliness, she'd been through it too long to shake easily. He came to realize this after a moderate walk outside.

There wasn't any good that would come out of dwelling on the past, having endless discussions, impasses of emotional frustration. They could talk and talk and talk all they wanted, but nothing between them would change. There'd always be doubt between. Albeit a very minor, very weak uncertainty, it'd always stick around in the back of their minds. Nothing would change. Until the ultimate promise was made.

 _Am I rushing?_

It'd been just a few weeks. Most couples go months, even years, before getting married. And a lot of premature marriages fall apart because not all of their differences were settled beforehand.

But. As it'd been stated so many times before. It's been more than a few weeks. It's been years. They knew each other better than they thought. They understood each other, and the life experiences that'd forged them into who they were. And they knew where they wanted to be in 10, 20, 30 years. Or rather, they didn't. Nor did they care. As long as it was with each other.

There wasn't a doubt in his mind that his beloved was hurting. Grieving, scared, and above all, unsure. She wasn't the only one in this relationship. He has every responsibility to protect her, and keep her happy. She'd done so much for him. Healed his wounds, filled the void, gave him motivation and purpose.

He was ready to make her his forever.

* * *

The leftover sandwich from the café was plenty for her for dinner. She wasn't even hungry to begin with. Instead, her appetite was usurped by this overwhelming grief, and an emptiness that she used to be very used to. It wasn't a very good time to get sentimental, but she loved Taki enough. Such that his absence was destroying her. Looking across the dinner table, and not seeing him smiling, and talking about his day. Looking over at his desk, and him not being there browsing the internet or sketching. Looking over at their bed, and it being empty with room for two more. She wanted to believe none of this was actually happening. After all, it was happening so fast. It wasn't even half a day ago when they were hanging out, having lunch in a café with their other friends. It took 7 words. Just a few words. A very quick and succinct argument that lasted not even 5 minutes. And now this feeling of their relationship being in jeopardy started to eat at her.

As she was disposing of parchment paper containing her now-eaten sandwich, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. And when she saw it was Taki, she burst into tears, and fell to her knees. Part of her was exceedingly relieved that it was him, but another one was fearing the worst.

"Taki!"

 _Mitsuha…I…are you alright?_

"I'm fine! I'm just…why…what's wrong?"

 _Can you meet me at that stair case? Y'know, the one where we-_

"I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" Not even letting him finish his request, Mitsuha bolted out the door and into the city. All he was able to say was 'stair case'. She knew right away where he was talking about, and where to go.

So she ran. And ran. A long way. She wasn't used to running like this. Like she was chasing something. Like the clock was ticking down before…oh. That's right. She had run like this. Just hadn't been for a while. The comet. The one that would eviscerate her home town. The disaster in which she, along with her friends and family, were supposed to perish. Saving Itomori…getting all of its inhabitants to safety…took all of her physical and mental willpower. She expended a lot to save her town-mates. And running through the city gave her the same feeling. Of panic, and hurrying. But this wasn't the lives of 500 people at stake here. No. It was something much, much more important to her.

By the time she made it to the steps, she was out of breath. She made up a few steps before her legs begged her to stop. Hunched over on her knees, gasping for air, she felt a presence come up to her. And this presence took her by the shoulders, raised her up, and wrapped around her, pulling her towards the rest of it. And its warmth enveloped Mitsuha, who found herself in a state of ecstasy.

She wasted no time squeezing Taki as absolute hard as she could.

"I'm not one for sentiments. Are you?"

Through tears and a throat engulfed with emotion, she yelped out a quick "not really."

"Well, I've become that way. A little bit of role reversal here? Remember when we found each other? It was bright, and daytime. And I was the one hunched over, out of breath and really tired."

"Huh…huh…it seems…like everything's reversed. Hasn't it…"

"From all the time I've spent with you, I realize everything comes back full circle. But sometimes, the course of action likes to take its time. And we spend too long going at the same pace before we realize things fly right by us. And we've missed out on a lot of things."

"Taki…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"Mitsuha…don't lie to yourself. You meant that. I know it. And I understand why now. Which is why now I have to do this. Before I make a mistake that I can't undo."

Taki let go of Mitsuha, and gently pushed her away, giving himself room to…

Mitsuha gasped, and tears rolled from her eyes, as the scene before was one that she'd been dreaming about for the month they'd been together. This was it. All the time they spent together, all of their own that they committed to each other, the decisions and sacrifices they've made for one another. All culminating to this moment. That either of them knew was coming sooner or later. And it was a monumentally exhilarating feeling.

"Mitsuha, I know it's only been a little over a month. But if you think about it…we've known each other for 5 years."

"8 years."

"Yeah…8 years. So. I have no regrets. Having my integrity questioned like that made all the more confident in what I'm doing." On one knee, Taki reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small black box.

It took all of Mitsuha's resolve to remain where she was, to allow Taki to conduct his intended action, and not grab him and smother him with love. Nevertheless, she stood, shaking, eyes blurred from her tears, and her hand covering her mouth to suppress any strange noises she might make that would kill the mood.

"Miyamizu Mitsuha. I've had to absolute pleasure and honor of being your boyfriend. You've made me happy in ways I can't put into words. This gaping void that I thought was going to consume me has been wholly filled by your warmth and your love. I know we're destined to be together. Time and space ripped us apart, and it's brought us together again. Coincidence? I think not. So with that being said. I ask for your hand in matrimony. Tighten the knot and burn the frayed ends with a passionate flame. And make this last forever. Will you marry me?"

As he was finishing that last question, he began to open to box to reveal the ring that he'd gotten for her just about an hour ago. But he was cut off, and the box wasn't even half open, by the time Mitsuha had lunged into him, latching her arms around Taki's neck, crying hysterically as her one most desired wish had been realized. All of her emotions were pouring out, and all of her doubts washing away as she staked a kiss into his cheek.

"Taki…I didn't mean what I said-"

"You still haven't given me an answer yet."

"Wha-…ugh…yes! I will marry you! Was the crying and hugging and kissing not an answer?!"

"Ha ha. I suppose I could've figured that out."

She was despondent, silent, wanting nothing that would interrupt this moment of her savoring everything that'd just happened. Collecting her thoughts, and letting the possibilities of what can come in the years ahead sink in. In the low light, Mitsuha was beyond beautiful. In fact, if one were to ask Taki, he could say that her magnificence surpassed that which human physicality is capable of. This sweet and delicate woman, who only desired his companionship and loyalty. He felt terrible about walking out on her earlier.

"Taki…about what I said earlier…"

"Don't. I want to put that behind us. That was a pretty shameful moment. For both of us. It was wrong of me to react that way."

"Well, it's just that…this is all happening so fast. All I wanna know is…did that have anything to do with you deciding to propose?"

"It did."

"So you decided to propose to me just in the last few hours?"

"No. No, I didn't. I've been thinking about proposing to you for a while now. Perhaps since the day you moved in. Y'know. I had originally planned to take you back to Ito-…well, what's left of Itomori. To that crater where we really met for the first time. And proposing to you there. But I felt like it should be now. Look around us. Everyone we know is getting married. Saya and Tessie. Tsukasa and Okudera. They're taking the next step into their lives, on their way to prosperity. Why not us?"

"Yeah…why not us…"

In the very spot where they professed their love for one another for the first time, they remained in each other's arms, absorbing every last bit of their passion, and encapsulating every second into their memories. A marriage proposal is no small deal. It's a huge milestone for everyone. The pinnacle achievement of every relationship. And the emotions involved usually get the best of people. Taki and Mitsuha were no different.

They wiped away their tears, and tried to salvage as much of their composure as they could. Mitsuha pushed Taki back a little to create some space, and leaned right back in for a kiss. Yet again. They as a couple kiss a lot, but the circumstances seem to be different every time.

Even though they could bet money that this day would come eventually, the doubt in the back of their head lingered all this time, and feeling it disappear was incredible. That being said, it was so easy for the two of them to jump ahead years into their marriage, and think about all the amazing things they'd do. Starting a family, traveling the world, growing old together, and all these other thoughts were rushing to the front of their mind.

Neither of them really wanted to be outside anymore; there were a lot of things they wanted to do and say that they felt weren't very appropriate in a public setting. So they rushed back to Taki's apartment, got undressed and crawled into bed. Lying on their sides, they stared at each other, admiring each other, staring into eyes that said "I love you". No words were needed, they'd been with each other long enough for them to read each other and feel their thoughts without verbal communication. They gently stroked each other's cheek with their thumbs.

Eventually, the emotional wear and tear of the past hour's events put them to sleep, and Sunday came before they could even stop to think about where and when they were.

* * *

Taki woke up, with his arms vacant. Unlike Mitsuha, he always needed a second for his brain to catch up after his body woke up. And when he realized that Mitsuha was nowhere to be found, he began to panic. Not for very long though. On his desk was a note. Reminding him of the one Tsukasa and Shinta left him. _Were they here again?_

He walked over and saw the note was from Mitsuha. And wasn't really sure what to think or how to feel after reading it:

 _Taki-kun:_

 _You proposing to me was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Sure, we knew that day would come, but I didn't expect it to be that soon. But the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I was so fearful that I'd gone too far and what I said to you would separate us. I was scared. But soon we'll be bonded forever, and I can't wait for that day. But before then, there's one thing I need to clear up, and you can probably imagine what that might be. By the time you're reading this, I'll most likely be at my grandmother's house, explaining to her what's going on. And where my life will be going. The one thing I ask of you, my beloved, is to leave this to me for now. I understand that you consider them your family almost as much, if not just as much, as I do. And honestly, it's so endearing to me that you care about my grandmother and my sister the way you. There will be a day where you will be able to share your piece, and do your part in bringing our families together. But not today. Text me if you wanna go anywhere for brunch, otherwise I'll see you at home._

 _I love you  
Mitsuha_

"I see." Taki expressed out loud his personal disapproval of how Mitsuha was handling this. But. She was right. Him being there could jeopardize the healing process. He could end up doing more harm than good. But he couldn't help being worried about Mitsuha.

His attention diverted to his vibrating phone, whose display showed that it was Mitsuha calling. "Mitsuha?"

 _Taki-kun…please come to my grandmother's house. Right away._

The call disconnected before Taki could even formulate a response. And just about the same as with everything else, he wasn't sure what to think. Part of him was hoping that Hitoha would welcome him to the Miyamizu line with open arms, but another part of him believed he would be walking into a torrent of berating and scolding.

 _No. I have to do this. For Mitsuha…my fiancée…my soon-to-be wife._

Even though he'd only been there once, Taki was able to navigate to the Miyamizu residence with relative ease. Along the way, he tried to keep his poise and confidence as high as possible. There was no point in going all the way there, to prove himself to Hitoha, if he was going to be a nervous mess. But with every step closer to the house he took, he became more and more anxious, and his pessimism fought his optimism harder and harder the closer he got.

Before he even had a chance to ring the doorbell, Mitsuha opened the door, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him inside.

"Ohh! Is that Taki?"

"It is, Obaa-san. Taki, come say hello to my grandmother."

Taki was perplexed by what was transpiring; it was just about the last sequence of events he expected. He sat down across from Hitoha, who had a gentle grandmotherly smile, eager to meet her future grandson-in-law.

"It's very nice to meet you, Taki."

"Wha-…what?"

Mitsuha bumped him with her knee, signaling him to return her introduction.

"Ah- uhh- umm it's very nice to meet you too."

It was almost eerie how Hitoha kept her smile, and continued to stare at Taki. It was almost like she was putting up a façade. Or worse…

"I'm going to bring Taki upstairs real quick, okay Obaa-san?"

"Ohh, take your time. Your old grandmother isn't going anywhere."

As Taki followed Mitsuha up the steps of her old home, he could feel her arms trembling. She was clearly nervous or worried about something. _Would this happen to be something with Hitoha?_

Yotsuha was waiting at the top of the steps for the couple, also shaking with doubt. As Mitsuha turned to face Taki, the morbid look of sorrow that she and Yotsuha identically expressed all but confirmed Taki's fear.

"Mitsuha…"

"I think you get the idea. You're so smart, Taki-kun."

"How long…how long has she been like this…"

"Just about a couple of weeks." Only Yotsuha could answer, having been the only one to spend every day for the past couple weeks with her. "Her Alzheimer's worsens each day. Every minute, feels like."

"I…I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing for you to say. There isn't really anything you can do. Anything any of us can do."

"That…that can't be true! We have to help her somehow."

"Taki…it warms my heart that you care about our grandmother this much. But…getting treatment for her wouldn't be easy. And honestly…this state of ignorance she's in…"

"Mitsuha…don't you dare."

"I WANT OUR MARRIAGE TO HAVE NO OBSTACLES!"

Taki turned to Yotsuha, hoping that she would demonstrate a little more faith or any sort of willingness to fight Hitoha's memory loss.

"Taki…she's 90. You can't expect her to be in perfect health. And quite frankly, she doesn't quite have it in her to go through Alzheimer's therapy. We don't want to put her through anything she doesn't want to."

That last sentence. That was it. And his feelings and intentions shifted immediately. It all but made sense. He could've said all he wanted, said all these things, but there was no way he could even pretend he knew what was best for Hitoha.

So the only thing any of them could do was to stay course with everything. For Taki and Mitsuha, start planning the wedding. And for Yotsuha, just live life normally.

* * *

She would eventually find herself in Taki's apartment. Sitting at a dinner table. With her sister and her fiancée. His two friends, one single and one engaged, and that guy's fiancée. And Mitsuha's friends, who were of course also engaged. All the people who meant anything and everything to Taki and Mitsuha. She and Shinta, the only other single individual at the table, couldn't keep their eyes off of each other. But that wasn't why either of them were here. In fact, only Yotsuha knew why everyone was gathered. No one else did.

But it didn't matter. They were all smart. And already had a good idea of what they were all together for. All these people who Taki and Mitsuha had re-encountered within the last couple of weeks, some within the last 2 days.

"So, guys. What's the deal?" Okudera had a sarcastic inflection, since everyone knew what they were there for.

"Well, it seems like you all know what's going on. So yes. We're getting married."

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 **A/N: Well! There it goes. The ultimate moment the story was heading towards. I'm not sure why I decided to make this happen here. But nonetheless, the last thing I wanted to do was to overbuild it up. With how I've depicted their relationship so far, it wouldn't make sense to drag out the proposal. And the story doesn't end here, of course. There's so much more to go, and the adventure will go on for not only Taki and Mitsuha, but their friends and family. And a lot of arcs that I've started and haven't followed up on. All that and more to come soon.**

 **So now comes the obligatory thank you section. Where I spew out as many creative ways to thank the audience as possible. I write one in every time, but the sentiment doesn't change at all. It truly, sincerely, organically means all the time I've put into this fic to me that there's still readers 15 chapters in. To be completely honest, there've been times where I've been disappointed enough in certain chapters where the motivation to write is almost nonexistent. But simply put, 50 favorites and 60 follows will always keep me going. Seriously, that's big time for me. Having 5 favorites and 6 follows was big to me. Those are numbers I could only lie to myself about having when I first wrote this fic on my phone during baseball practice. Crazy to see how far it's come since.**

 **So that's it from me. If I keep going, this author's note is gonna become longer than the story itself. Who would want that? For the umpteenth time, thank you to all of you so much for reading my story and giving it your attention. See y'all next time. Cheers.**


	17. Chapter 17

"SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!"

"LET'S GET HAMMERED!"

"HEY, LET'S NOT!"

The abrasive atmosphere in Taki's apartment dissipated, and suddenly Taki, Mitsuha, and their presumed wedding party were at a standstill over what to do with the rest of their night. They were already gathered, so why not do something fun, even though it wasn't even a full day ago that Taki and Mitsuha were completely hungover. The idea of alcohol didn't sound particularly nice to them either, but everyone was here already.

"I…I'm not a drinker." Tsukasa was quick to deflect the prospect of doing alcohol tonight. Or period, for that matter.

"Well you don't have to drink. Hell, if anything you'll be sober enough to video tape everything!"

"Don't you guys have any better ideas? And besides, not all of us are even legal to drink."

Yotsuha didn't exactly appreciate being used as a scapegoat for this guy's rather prude antics. "What, you think that's gonna stop me?"

"YOTSUHA!"

"C'mon, onee-chan. You're my big sister, you can take care of me."

"The time for discourse is OVER!" Tessie's thundering voice overtook all the overlapping conversations, and caught everyone off guard since up to that point he'd said next to nothing. "Alright, Saya and I are gonna run to the liquor store."

"Well, Miki and I are gonna go then."

"Uhh, what, no we're not."

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon, don't think of it as drinking to get drunk, just stay and have fun. With some old and new friends. Don't be that guy, babe."

"Yeah, you don't have to drink, dude."

Tsukasa wrestled with his intentions, but realized that it would've looked really bad if he left. Taki certainly would've been a little bothered. This gathering was for him, after all.

"Mmm. Alright. But I'm telling you, I'm not having a sip."

"We're not asking you to, man. Just stick around and hang out, that's all."

No one seemed to mind the limited floor space in Taki's apartment, as everyone found a little spot to get comfortable in. While Tessie and Saya went to grab the goods, the rest of the party got more familiar with each other. Especially Shinta and Yotsuha, who were getting a little chummy with each other. But Mitsuha became more of a mom than a sister, and interjected whatever conversation Yotsuha and Shinta were having, to lay down the rules for her impending consumption.

"Yotsuha. I'm keeping a very short leash on you tonight. You stop drinking when I tell you to, got it?"

"Jeez, alright, loud and clear, ma'am."

Part of her wanted to drill the idea into Yotsuha's head even further. But, alas, for the most part, Yotsuha had demonstrated a notable amount of maturity, save for the incident just a couple weeks back. So she left her younger sister alone for the time being.

She noticed Taki talking to Tsukasa and Miki, and had a little hesitation joining in. Ordinarily, she'd jump in no problem, but given the circumstances, it was totally possible they were talking about something pretty personal. After all, this couple was the same two people who accompanied him on his journey to Itomori.

Her indecision didn't go unnoticed, as her fiancée was quick to call her over, not wanting her to feel left out. "Mitsuha? What're you doing, come over."

Mitsuha's face lightened up and made her way over to where he and his companions stood in a small circle. He wrapped his arm around her when she got close enough, and pecked her with a quick kiss.

"Y'know, I find it…kinda weird. That we all decided to get married at the same time." It didn't quite over everyone's head. Tsukasa was the first to point out this lucky timing.

"It does seem pretty coincidental, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Actually…I had this crazy thought…what if we all got married on the same day?"

"A triple wedding? How would that work?"

"I'm assuming it'd be the same as a regular wedding. Just with all three couples standing."

"Well that's definitely outside the box. But I think for the sake of the wedding guests, it probably wouldn't be such a good idea. I mean, your family would there, my family would be there, everyone else's families would be there. And they'd have to sit through a wedding for people they could care less about." Taki subjectively liked the idea, but there would a lot of awkwardness if that were to happen.

"True…"

"Mmm, I wouldn't exactly think of it that way, though." Miki interjected, sort of trying to deflect the idea of the other families not caring. Part of her knew that her own family would be open to the idea.

Before anyone else could say anything, Tessie and Saya returned with the toxins. "Okay, I don't know what people like to drink, so I just got a little bit of everything."

What happened next, no one would've been able to remember for the life of them. The playing cards and yen coins on the ground would've suggested that there was some gambling involved.

"I CALL YOUR BLUFF! AND RAISE YOU THIS MUCH!"

"I CAN'T CALL THAT! WAIT, HOW 'BOUT MY FIANCEE?"

"HEY!"

The movie streaming service on Taki's TV and the empty bottles of liquor all but meant a "drink when this happens" game took place.

"This is actually a really fun one. We use an RNG to assign everyone a word. And take a shot every time we hear that word."

Perhaps as a prelude to their heads feeling like they were in another galaxy, they decided to watch a western classic in Star Wars. Which everyone had seen once or twice before.

"Alright, let's roll for words!"

Some were less than excited about the word they were assigned, feeling almost cheated in a way. "'Force'? I got 'force', are you kidding me?"

"You shut your mouth, I got 'hope'!"

And the kitchen littered with food particles and packaging were more than indicative of a bad case of the drunken munchies.

"Hey throw all this in the blender and see what happens."

And before them sitting in Taki's blender was a cesspool of various alcoholic drinks, natto, bananas, rice, and raw eggs.

"Alright, everyone. Bottoms up!"

"I'm not drinking that!"

So in short, everyone had a good time.

Each and every person had a varying intensity of their hangover. Some didn't have one to begin with, namely the people who either drank very little or didn't drink at all. For others, it wasn't so bad, just a slight headache. But there were a few individuals who had the worst, and felt like their head was on a yo-yo.

"Aaauuuggghhh! Make it stoooppp!"

"Here, drink this."

"I literally can't ingest anything right now. I'm gonna throw it back up."

"Well, try to hold this down."

"A sports drink? What would that do?"

"It hydrates, and replenishes the electrolytes you lost after drinking all that alcohol."

"Well, aren't you a scientist…"

* * *

So much had happened, though. The past 24 hours could very well be considered the most eventful for both Taki and Mitsuha. Hell, the past month or so couldn't have changed their lives any more than it had. So much happens in such little time. Which is why it felt like an eternity ago that they themselves were experiencing the agony of alcoholic dehydration. It wasn't fun.

But soon enough every one recovered, and were able to leave Taki and Mitsuha's domain under their own power. For the most part, at least.

"Okay. Let's take a moment to pray…that it's Sunday and not Monday."

The potential consequences that could ensue if it was indeed Monday made them very panicked, and very uneasy. And yes. It was Monday. But the mini heart attack both of them experienced came and went quickly, because they realized that it was Health and Sports Day. So no one was due for work.

But they were afforded the chance to even process what was happening, because loud banging on the door emphatically grabbed their attention.

The couple was almost bewildered when they saw that the entire group from last night remained, at their door step, and not off doing their own thing.

"BEACH DAY!"

A few hopeful members of the party shouted in unison a pretty good idea of what to do with their holiday. It was bright and sunny out. Not too hot either, and almost no humidity to speak of. And with such a sizeable group, the variety of things to do was almost beyond what could be done in one day.

"Beach day?"

"Taki-kun, let's do it! Let's all go to the beach!"

"YEAH! But yeah, before we all left, someone just threw it out there, I don't remember who it was though."

"It was yours truly." Yotsuha took a little bit of pride in generating such a genius plan, but no one really seemed to care.

"Oh, think of all the things we could do! Beach volleyball, watermelon smashing… it is Sports Day, after all."

"I've got a portable grill, so we can, ahem, 'smokes them meats'."

All the males in the immediate vicinity burst into intense laughter, while the ladies just scoffed and tried to ignore that crude remark.

"Umbrellas?"

"We've got some!"

"And I would assume everyone's got towels. Let's take an hour to get ready, and we can meet…"

"We can all meet back here when everyone's ready."

"Can I bring my friends?"

Yotsuha's friends. Suddenly, Taki was stricken with memories of what happened the last time he encountered Yotsuha's friends. It was stressful, to say the least. And he didn't exactly portray himself as an upstanding citizen. In fact he just looked like this creep that brought teenage girls home. But. Everything was okay. Everyone was safe in the end. And if anything, it was something he could reference if he ever needed any affirmation of his responsibility and maturity. So why not bring them along?

"That's fine with us. The more, the merrier!"

"What?"

"It's an, uhh, English saying. Always fun with more people."

"Can't argue with that, I guess."

"So that settles it. Lemme get a head count here…"

"Eleven."

"HA! ELEVEN!"

And the guys once again burst into laughter, but this time the girls had no idea what was so funny about eleven. There was probably one of the guys laughing that didn't even know himself, either.

"Well, you guys are more than welcome to laugh at middle school jokes all day. We're gonna get ready for the beach."

The group dispersed, went their separate paths, and Taki and Mitsuha retreated into their own abode. Taki began gathering necessities for their beach trip, but Mitsuha wanted to take a moment with him. And just savor the sentiments of everything going on.

She wrapped her arms around Taki from behind, and pressed her head against his back, sighing in pleasure. "Everything is so great right now…"

And like most great boyfriends, Taki knew exactly what was going through his fiancee's head. "I thought you weren't a sentimental person."

"Oh Taki. I know I said that. But just…how many conversations have we had? I'm totally a sentimental person…"

"That's why I was so confused when you stated otherwise the other night."

"I just…wanted to take a moment to…more or less, express my appreciation, how 'bout that…for this…gratuitous turn that our lives have taken…"

"Yeah, it has. Everyone's getting along. Getting along great, as a matter of fact. I know for a fact you agree with me that…seeing our friends get along like this is awesome."

"It is. It really is. But again…everyone just met. And we're all going to the beach together. I'm at that point again where…I feel like we're going at warp speed."

"Yeah. It does. But we've been through this before. And don't you think everyone else kinda feels the same way?"

"I guess so…"

"I mean. Well, they may not feel the same. But they're our peers. And they're going through something very similar to us. I think you're overthinking it."

"If you say so…"

Melancholy aside, they were still excited to hit up the beach, and the hour put aside to prepare went by rather slowly. It only took them about 15 minutes or so to pack up, so they were just kinda sitting there doing nothing.

"How long 'till we're supposed to go?"

"About 40 minutes."

"Ugh, we've been sitting here foreverrr!"

"What were you just saying about everything going by super fast?"

A less-than-amused Mitsuha just ignored him, and rolled to her side on their bed out of boredom. Taki laid down on the bed next to her, and hovered over her, with one arm wrapped around her stomach. She turned her head to see Taki, and turned enamored by his dashing good looks.

"I can think of a way to kill time." Taki smiled at his fiancée, who had more than hunch of what he could hinting at.

What happened next could be left to anyone's imagination, but needless to say that the next 40 minutes flew by, and knocking on the door snapped them out of their trance, all but confirming that it was beach time.

Back again, with Yotsuha, were Yotsuha's friends. Kaori, Shizuka and Rin. The four victims of a little oversight that kept them in the apartment for a fortnight. At first they were a little nervous about coming back in, because none of them really knew what Taki and Mitsuha were thinking. But their welcoming demeanor helped them relax a little. But it obviously wasn't a problem for Yotsuha, who noticed something about the bed.

"Hey, that bed was made when I left."

"Ooohhh!"

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOTSUHA!"

Her snap was followed by laughter, and Mitsuha flushed red with embarrassment. More knocking came, and before any awkward conversations got going, the boarding group had arrived in full.

"What's this, Taki?!"

Shinta pointed at Taki's t-shirt, and the latter was notably confused as to what could be going on.

"What, my shirt?"

"SUN'S OUT, GUNS OUT!"

"Wha-…'sun's out guns out', what does that mean?"

"Oh, it's an American phrase. Basically pointing out tank top weather."

"Oh…okay."

* * *

The hour or so trip to Zushi Beach felt short-lived, mainly because all the trains they were on were empty. As in not a single other soul than themselves. So they used the vacancy to mess around and whatnot.

But when they got to the beach, they soon realized why no one was on the trains. Because they'd been beaten to the punch. And everyone and their mother had the same idea of going to the beach on Health and Sports Day. Only they were wise enough to get ready at the crack of dawn. The mass of people was discouraging, and there wasn't even a square foot of free space to set down all their stuff, let alone a spot for their entire group.

"Why did we come here?" Yotsuha had an inflection of confusion of in her voice

"What do you mean, we always come here!" This was the very first beach the Miyamizu family came to when they migrated to Tokyo. Or first beach, period. And it was one of the only that Mitsuha knew of.

But it might've been a better idea to heed advice of those who probably have the most beach experience in the entire group. And it didn't surprise anyone that Yotsuha and her friends knew all the beach spots. So when the high school girls guided them to Isshiki Beach, and its serenity and general lack of beachgoers, the mixed feeling of excitement and confusion as to why they didn't come here in the first place created an awkward atmosphere.

"Why didn't you say anything the whole time we were on the trains?"

"Oh, gimme a break, you would've ignored us anyway. And besides, the route we took was the fastest way to get here to begin with. We would've had to have come this way, regardless."

With sunblock freshly applied by their significant others shielding their skin, the girls ventured off into the shore. How the water was at such a balanced temperature, no one would ever know. It was right at that fine line between warm and cool, and the girls wasted no time enjoying it.

While the guys got to putting up the phalanx of parasols, something was on Tsukasa's mind, but wasn't really sure how to personally address it. So he figured maybe the other two soon-to-be grooms would know.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you guys ever feel like…our lives are…kinda like an anime, or a story?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Don't you think everything's kinda happening so surreally? I mean, we're all almost at our 'happily ever after'. We're all gonna be married men pretty soon."

"Well. If you want my honest opinion, we're not anywhere near our happy endings. I mean c'mon we're all in our twenties." Taki was more than familiar with the fairy tale course of action his life has been lately. And it was true. Everything was happening very smoothly. Pretty much like a story.

"I do get what you mean, though." Tessie interjected, acknowledging Tsukasa's sentiment. "Everything has happened, like you said, pretty much like a story. Almost like it's too good to be true."

"Aren't you guys worried about…what's gonna happen when it gets to the _bad_ part of the story?"

"So be it, dude. That's life. Ups and downs. And not every relationship is perfect. Not everyone's life chronicle is perfect. And really, I would've thought Miki would be the first one to tell you that."

"We've actually never had that conversation before."

"Well, you have with us, now. And what's been with you, lately? You're usually a lot more outgoing than this. I would actually go as far as to say that if I didn't know you already, I'd say you're a totally new and different person"

"Just…new people. Don't wanna give anyone the wrong impression. If you're talking about last night, I think it was best just to keep it cool, especially with alcohol involved."

"I can understand that. But I can tell you that some of the others already have the wrong impression. The real you is a lot cooler than this. Just be yourself."

The beach was no place to have any sentimental talks. Well, at least not for the entire day. So the boys tarried no longer, and hustled out to the shore. Taki tackled Mitsuha into the water, and Tessie did the same to Saya. Both of the girls squealed out of pleasant surprise before having being muffled by the ocean water. Tsukasa just lightly jogged to where Miki was standing, who was slightly disappointed that he didn't do the same, and just looked at him with a blank face.

"What, you wanted me to push you into the water, too?"

No audible response was offered, as Okudera instead just pushed Tsukasa into the water herself. Eventually Shinta and Yotsuha joined them in the water, while the other girls remained ashore sunbathing.

Maybe a half-hour was spent in the water, and the group returned to their encampment, wet and freezing from the difference in body temperature and the weather. It didn't take long for them to acclimated, though.

"Say, what's in that bag?" They noticed a rather large bag among the others, the kind that looks like it would carry equipment of some sort.

"Oh, there's a little volleyball net inside. This beach doesn't have any of their own, so we usually bring that one for ourselves, just in case. If we wanna play at some point, we should get to setting it up." Of course the bag belonged to the beach queens. And everyone was quickly turned on to the idea of volleyball.

So without haste, a volleyball net was up, and the group began to decide on teams.

"Okay, so we all play volleyball." Kaori gestured to signify who 'we' was. As if she could've been talking about anyone else. "I don't think it's fair for all of us to be on the same team."

"I thought you guys played basketball."

"You can play more than one sport, Taaaki-kuuun."

With the odd number of people, it already created a rather tricky scenario. Eleven doesn't divide into 2 even teams. And it would've been really awkward to try to make teams based on skill, because other than Yotsuha and her friends, they were all generally around the same in terms of volleyball prowess.

"Hey, how 'bout one person refs?"

"For beach volleyball, seriously?"

"Well, that way, we can have even teams of 5."

"Well, how would we decide who has to rotate in and out?"

"Okay, everyone stop. We're making this too complicated, let's just make some random teams and just play! It's not like we're out here seriously competing or anything."

The advice made sense; they came out to the beach to have fun, not to beat each other at a sport they don't even play. Who was on whose team shouldn't've mattered to begin with so. So with that said, the group broke off into singles vs takens. Shinta had the luxury of 4 volleyball players on his team, against the rest of the party.

For the sake of fun and having a good time, Yotsuha and her friends played with around half effort, which still proved to be a competitive challenge for the opposition, which included Taki and Mitsuha, Saya and Tessie, and Tsukasa and Miki.

Eventually, though, with some pointers and tricks of the trade from the athletes themselves, the group experienced a sharp increase in their volleyball skills after about a half-hour of playing.

When fatigue settled, the party retreated to the ocean, allowing their bodies to cool down and relax.

"Did anyone bring a watermelon?"

The next great idea spawned, but the physical toll of volleyball still lingered, so they stayed in the water for a while longer before heading back to play a beach classic.

Blindfolds and a smashing stick to boot, a watermelon was placed down, and the choice of the first guinea pig was imminent.

"Who's going first?"

Each and every party member was hesitant to go first for whatever reason. But the first demonstration of bravery came from maybe the least expected source.

"I'll go first!"

When the group turned to see that Tsukasa had volunteered as the first participant, it caught some people off guard, more so for those who didn't know him as well, since up to this point he'd been pretty prude with just about everything. But nonetheless, they didn't question not having to go first, so Tsukasa was promptly blindfolded, spun around and handed the stick.

The dizziness had a heavy impact of Tsukasa, who was obviously not used to disorientation, of any sort, really. But he did a rather good job of disguising it, and put up a veil of composure that more or less impressed his peers.

But alas, it was almost for naught, since Tsukasa was unable to locate the watermelon, and crushed an empty patch of sand with the stick.

And one by one, each member of the group took their stab at suikawari, all up until the last two participants failing to strike the large fruit. Some members were met with enough struggle with the dizziness by itself. Others were able to fight the dizziness, but not enough so to navigate through clamoring voices from every direction, obfuscating their sense of location, and as such, no one even came close to reaching the watermelon.

Only Taki and Mitsuha were left, and maybe 5 seconds into Mitsuha's attempt, she gave up on finding the watermelon, and followed the source of Taki's voice, surrendering her turn and using her dizziness as an excuse to tackle him. And no one really knew why.

Which all but left Taki as the sole hope of the watermelon being split. And perhaps this was the moment that proved which couple had the strongest affinity, because Taki, deterred by dizziness, was still able to distinguish Mitsuha's voice, who wouldn't ever lie to him, from the others, and use it to pinpoint the watermelon. And after 11 tries, the watermelon was divided, and a victor was declared.

It was more of a blessing in disguise, because everyone was able to get a shot, and the advent of people not being able to play because the melon was smashed early never happened. And the ultimate goal of everyone having fun was realized. But perhaps the bigger, more long term destination came faster than maybe anticipated. Much, much faster. Strangers just hours ago, now friends and companions for years to come.

The intensity of suikawari took away everyone's sense of time, because around the end of the game, it was time to eat. The original plan of grilling their own food was marred by the fact that no one remembered to get anything to grill. But it was all good, because the nearby beach bar was plenty satisfactory for their hunger.

Since everyone else had gotten acquainted the night before, the center of attention rested in Yotsuha's friends. Normally, there might've been some discomfort around strangers who were years older than they were, but that night at Taki's apartment more than established an unbreakable foundation of trust between the girls and Taki and Mitsuha. So there weren't any awkwardness or nerves to speak of.

And from the way everyone was getting along, it would've seemed like they'd known each other for years.

"Can I get everyone's attention?"

Yotsuha's quiet and reserved nature, much like that of her sister's, yielded very few words from her on a normal basis. But maybe out of all the people there, she herself could've argued to have had the most fun. Maybe it was because she and her sister were back together as sisters again, but in the process, she got to meet a lot of good-hearted people. A nice distraction and escape from everything happening elsewhere.

"I think I speak for my friends when I say that…we're so glad to have met you all. I think it'd be okay for me to share this…" she quickly glanced at her friends, who knew right away what the younger Miyamizu was referring to.

"Long story short, a couple weeks ago, we came to find a lot of trust and confidence in Mitsuha and Taki. So…I think it's really cool to have met all of you. And I know some of you are getting married pretty soon. And that's really cool too! So…ugh, sorry, this is weird for me…here's to years and years of friendship…and hanging out and stuff!"

Everyone was impressed with Yotsuha's composure delivering such a heartfelt toast to so many new faces. But none more so than her own sister, who felt like she'd almost learned as much about her imouto in the last 3 minutes as she did in the last 17 years.

Despite the hijinks, it escaped the mind of no one that tomorrow was work day, and school day for some others. Even more apparent because of the fact that around 20:00, the beach had pretty much vacated. But Yotsuha and company had other plans. And the group mutually agreed to take advantage of the emptiness, and stay a little later and deal with the next morning however it came.

The beach queens once again proved their experience, and revealed fireworks in another bag. Whether they were supposed to have them in the first place could be debated, but nothing was worth worrying it. The myriad of flashing colors in the sky provided a more than fitting finale to an eventful day. And the dark of the night obscured everyone's field of view, affording Taki and Mitsuha the opportunity to enjoy each other under the lights.

They laid against the rocks, clung to each other, and held their faces to each other's before meeting lips for a kiss, letting the rest of the night take course while they did their thing. When their lips separated, Mitsuha let out a small remark under a light whisper.

"Everything works out in the end. Doesn't it…"

"It's not the end, though. Really. We're just getting started."

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 **A/N: Hey y'all! So yes, I've set a record for the longest gap between chapters, but I CAN EXPLAIN! To any of my readers still left, I owe you a huge thank you to your loyalty. And being patient through my effort to keep this story going and balancing my personal life.**

 **So yes, school has been in session for some odd weeks now, and as a red-blooded American male, football has also consumed a lot of my time (I don't play anymore, but I like to watch on the weekends). That being said, I still try to put aside time to get this story where I want it to be.**

 **I realize that this chapter was not very much about Taki and Mitsuha, but rather all the other characters, but I figured since I got it started already, might as well finish it. The attention will shift back to the stars of the show soon enough.**

 **My main concern at this point is the entertainment factor, though. To be totally honest, I've experienced a personal dropoff in quality of this story's writing, and I wish I knew why. Maybe it's because it's been so long since the movie. And I do feel like I cheated a little bit by inserting an obligatory beach episode into the story.**

 **Nonetheless, this story's not over, and frankly there's still a lot of left to go. But two-week gaps between chapters might become normal, now. The length, however, will look be sorta like this. And I'm gonna try to structure each chapter to be like an episode of an anime. And drag out one single event and put it into one episode. That's what anyone still reading can expect.**

 **So as usual, thank you all for giving my fic a shot. Any new readers, welcome to the fringe, and to readers from the beginning, thank you for your continued loyalty. I can't tell you how much it means to me.**

 **With that said, until next time, everyone. Cheers.**


	18. Chapter 18

When Taki and Mitsuha realized how much sleep they didn't have over the course of the last 3-day weekend, the very idea of being sleep deprived created an almost insurmountable challenge of getting out of bed for work. 3 days? 3 weeks, it felt like. In the elongated 72 hours that had just taken place, they got done in that time what would normally take years to happen.

They could sit in bed and dwell on it for hours. And appreciate such good fortune. But, the adoption of capitalism makes them earn their living. So it wouldn't matter what could happen in the next few years if they didn't have a job.

It seemed like forever since the last time they got ready for work together. Mitsuha fixing up Taki's tie and stuff, making him pick an outfit for her, all these little things. But maybe the hardest part of going to work was being away from each other. They shared a short train ride to different stations together, so being in such a public place prevented them from saying 'see ya later' the way they would prefer. But. No matter how they'd slice it, it was only 8 hours and change a day. Really not that big of a deal.

* * *

The awkward gap between when Taki got to work and the board meeting that was planned in just 30 minutes from that time put him in a position of indecision. Not really enough time to do anything productive. But he certainly couldn't use any of that time for his own personal endeavors.

"Oh! Hi, Tachibana-san! How was your weekend?"

Well, there's that, at least. Conversing with co-workers to pass the time. The coffee machine in the break room could sometimes see hours of workload that would be deemed illegal under labor regulations. But the congregation of caffeine-seeking architects often forged an environment of conversation.

So that's what he did. Taki spent next moments recounting his eventful weekend. His very eventful weekend. One could wonder how you can fit a dinner with friends, a blackout later that night, coffee the next morning, a fight later that day, a marriage proposal that evening, another Oktoberfest the next night, and then the beach the next day.

"Sounds like a really bad episode of an anime."

There was nothing Taki could say to argue that; everything fell in place pretty much perfectly. And despite whatever he believed, there was no doubt that Tsukasa had some merit to what he said at the beach the previous day. Everything was happening almost too smoothly.

But. Why should that matter at all?

Some of his other, older coworkers shared their pieces on how they spent Health and Sports Day. And as expected, many of them spent the day outside their spouses and children. Taki had to restrain himself from jumping the gun and starting a family of his own with Mitsuha. But that wouldn't be very wise. At least at the moment.

* * *

"Okay, everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend, because we've got a lot to do this week."

The director spent the next few minutes or so talking about narratives about teamwork and…pushing forward and…always doing your best. How much of the meeting attendants' attention he retained would never be known. Taki sure as hell wasn't paying all that much attention.

"So here's the deal. We have a few lenders who we'd like to establish a business relationship with. I've been doing this a long time, so I'm more than prepared to be able to pitch our project to these lenders and give them a reason to give us their money. Some of you have done this before, but we have some new faces in here. What we'll be doing is meeting with representatives from our list of potential lenders, and giving them a taste of what they'll be funding. Does that make sense?"

Rhetorical question or not, no one in the room offered much of a response, all but affirming to the director that everyone was on the same page. More or less. The director spent the rest of the meeting to basically assign the supervisors to a different lender. With the way things were going, Taki would've actually been very disappointed if he didn't get matched with Mitsuha's company.

But could he expect any less?

"Alright, Tachibana-san, I bet you saw this coming."

And he probably did. At 1030 the next day, he and a group of his architects were to meet with a certain credit union to discuss the terms of the project and pitch the idea to their potential lender. For whatever reason, he felt like he needed to carefully pick his architects, and make sure he took the ones that were the most socially apt. Not necessarily the most knowledgeable, since he was the supervisor after all, but he had this very unnecessary feeling of having to impress. When at the end of the day he shouldn't.

After all, the only people who would be in that room would be his fiancée, and then a bunch of people he could care less about. So why was he feeling like he had to put together a home run presentation?

* * *

"'Tachibana Taki'. Say, Mitsuha, remember that discussion we had a couple weeks ago?"

 _A couple weeks ago? That was forever ago…_

The conversation when she signed a paper with Taki's name. Yeah. That was just a couple weeks ago. It sure felt like forever ago, though. And she'd completely forgotten about it. When she saw that a meeting had been established with this architectural firm, she got super excited quickly. But her manager noticed the name on the point-of-contact sheet.

"Isn't this the name that you signed with?"

"How can you even remember something like that?"

"Both our jobs are very detail-oriented. And I worked your job for years before I became a manager. You'd think by now I've learned how to pick things up and stick them to memory."

"Well…uhh…"

Mitsuha felt like she was in boiling water. And the only way to pull herself out was burning hot metal rod. Does she come clean and just tell her that this Tachibana fellow is actually her fiancée, or does she keep it to herself and let it fall under the table? The latter, she thought, could have potential for a serious disaster. At least at the moment.

"If he's your boyfriend, you can just tell me, I don't really care."

"Wait, you don't?"

"No, why would I?"

"Wha-…well, first of all, yes, Tachibana Taki is my boyfriend, fiancée actually. But…wouldn't that be like…I dunno, against nepotism policies or whatever?"

"Nepotism? Do you even know what that means?"

"Well, isn't it when-"

"Anyway, I get what you're saying. If we do find that there is a compliance or bribery issue, then you let someone else deal with it. Otherwise, as far as anyone else is concerned, you're just business partners. Don't worry about it. And by the way, congratulations."

She went from fearing for her own job to looking forward to seeing Taki on the clock the next day. This wicked turn of events and contrast in emotion left her a little confused. Good thing it was pretty much time to clock out and go home.

* * *

The aroma of omurice both figuratively and literally brought Taki home. He wasted no time helping prepare whatever else Mitsuha needed for dinner, who equally appreciated that he was proactive and didn't just sit down and watch TV or something.

The interesting dichotomy of their relationship as far as time went painted a pretty unique picture of their engagement. So little time, yet so much as happened. So much so that this life at home was starting to feel…pretty normal. As in, they prepared dinner, shared their days over their meal, and didn't bat an eye over it. If this were a couple weeks ago, they both would've gotten pretty sentimental, and talked about 'how cool it was that they were having dinner together' or something. But their relationship was past that. For worse, though? Definitely not.

"So are you excited to see me at work tomorrow?"

"You better not embarrass me!"

"What? I should be telling you that!"

Deep down they both knew they had the equal potential to humiliate each other. They knew how all too easy it was to make the other laugh. And in a professional setting, it probably would've spelled trouble for both of them as far as their jobs went. But. They knew better. Besides, they went through a lot and weaved some word salads to even make this possible. Why do something to make it for naught?

"So what can I expect tomorrow?"

"You tell me, I have no idea myself."

Neither of them were particularly interested anyway, so they just let it be and decided to take it how it came.

They realized that the meeting's late start essentially created another weekend for them. They could stay out and do whatever they wanted and sleep in the next morning. So, as if they didn't have enough to do last weekend, they took advantage and debated on what to do.

"Let's go for a run."

"What?"

"C'mon, it'll be fun! Get out, get the blood going, and breathe some fresh air…and whatnot."

"I mean, we spent all day at the beach yesterday, so…I'm pretty sure we breathed a little more than fresh air. But I'm in any shape to run, though…"

"Well, neither am I, I mean…look at me."

"…"

"What?"

"You look exactly the same."

"And so do you. We're both in shape to run."

"Eh. What the heck. I'm down."

Memories of the hike up Mount Takao revisited their minds, and the cool Tokyo night provided a relaxing, rejuvenating atmosphere to, ironically, run and exercise. Not relaxing at all. Neither of them knew exactly where they were going. They just ran in some direction that looked interesting, not even acknowledging the idea of getting lost. In some sense, they weren't even really out to exercise as much as they intended, as their evening jog turned into an urban safari through the streets of Tokyo.

And unintentionally, and perhaps belatedly as well, Taki lived up to his promise to Mitsuha to explore Tokyo with her. They ran through boroughs and parts of town that Taki himself had never been to before, simply because he never had a reason.

But the lights, the ambience, the environment brought in sentiments that, at this point, were occurring and repeating ad nauseam. Yet…it was still the same. Nothing changed. As if they needed any, it seemed like every day was a reminder of why they were together in the first place. And every now and then, they'd catch looks at each other, and took a second to appreciate the other being there at all. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing…this. Running aimlessly through the city that gave birth to their relationship…giving caution to one thing and one thing only. Fatigue, not a problem. Disorientation, who cares? Running after eating was by no stretch a wise decision at all. It was just each other…only the other half of their hearts was what mattered.

For every time they felt like their relationship started anew again, they themselves didn't have any explanation as to why. And they just got engaged, for crying out loud. But…did they need one, at all?

Eventually, their trek brought them to a park in the middle of who knows where. And of course, conveniently, they were "tired", and thought a nice stroll through the park would do them some good. For a Monday night, the life of the park was incredible. Of course tourists littered the venue, but some indigenous folk were also present and enjoying the park in its after-hours status. Two different worlds collided in a way at this park; the quad area served as a temporary home to a flash mob rehearsing, as well as general folk who basked in the fun atmosphere, but less than a half kilometer away was a quiet and neutral lake, where several people were scattered along its shore, enjoying the peace and serenity. Top everything off with a wall of sake barrels and blooming cherry blossoms, it was honestly a pretty homey feel. Lanterns barely lit the walkways, all but completing what seemed to be a perfect scene on a Monday night in Tokyo.

For Mitsuha, this was it. This was the one thing that she always wanted to see. She knew skyscrapers and contemporary modern buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, but for something that ironically reminded her of Itomori more than anything, she took a lot of resolve and appreciation for all of this. She supposed living here for 8 years gave her everything she needed as far as a bustling metropolitan life went. So coming back to an environment like this was refreshing. Still, she wouldn't ever wish that she was back in Itomori, living that kind of life. But. Nostalgia can be nice. And strengthening your roots is never a bad thing.

Crossing over to the midpoint of a bridge in the middle of the park lake, they couldn't help but be enamored by the incredible view of the lake before them. Quite literally the kind that calendars would have. Mitsuha circled Taki around, and took her phone out of her leggings, preparing themselves for a selfie with the lake as a backdrop.

Taki had to giggle when he noticed Mitsuha taking a few moments to make herself pretty, fluffing her hair and testing different facial expressions.

"I hope I don't have to remind you that we just ran. Neither of us look very good right now." But, at the end of the day, she was a girl, and pictures in a candid setting might as well be treated like a wedding, or a reception ceremony, at least. Who was he to complain, though? He knew a lot of people would give a lot to have someone like Mitsuha.

"Hmpph. I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay. Three, two, one…"

Taki reached over with his face and pecked Mitsuha on the cheek right as her phone captured their most recent memory. And boy did Mitsuha look silly, as her natural reaction to Taki's kiss created a funny-looking face.

And instead of scolding him like she usually might, she just looked at him, without an ounce of amusement in her face. With a sheepish look back at her, Taki offered only silence, unable to find words that could make her any less irritated.

"I'm, uhhh…I'm sure it looks fine."

But deep down, Mitsuha's reaction warmed Taki's heart. Silly face aside, her facial expression made her look genuinely happy. Which Taki couldn't help but appreciate.

She of course made him take a new picture, one where the derp level in her face was minimal. And it turned out to look very nice. Her new phone background featured them in front of the lake, replacing the incumbent, which was the picture they took at the top of Mount Takao. They could spend the rest of the night at the lake, but there was so much more to do. So for the next hour or so, they toured this vibrant area for all of its amenities.

* * *

They were just about done at the park, not feeling inspired considering the level of light out. Thoughts, ideas, and plans to come here in the daytime, perhaps with their friends or with just each other, served as a mental bookmark to return some day. If they remembered how to get here, though. The dilemma getting back home became apparent, and neither of them had any idea which way they came, let alone what part of town they were in.

"Ha! Thank god for technology, right?"

"I seriously don't even wanna know what would happen if our phones didn't have GPS."

It turns out that they didn't even really run that far, and a jog back home was actually doable. When it was all set and done, it turned out to be a pretty good exercise, and fatigue conveniently prepared them for bed. So after showering and brushing their teeth and stuff, bed time welcomed them into a needed slumber.

But not before Taki entered his bedroom with the lights already off. He figured Mitsuha was that tired and just ignored it, being too tired himself to care anyway. He sat down on his bed, but could feel a presence creeping in closer and closer to him. Consciously, he knew it literally couldn't have been anyone other than Mitsuha, but something was different. Mitsuha usually had a warm and loving aura about her, at least when they were alone. But this was not it. This presence had a chilling, frightening feel, almost hostile. The light from other sources, like the moonlight and their phones charging and stuff, just lit the room barely enough for Taki to turn, and come face to face with a ghastly figure. He'd seen some horror movies, so this entity reminded him a tortured soul present on Earth only to wreak havoc on its victims. The long black hair and ribbon-looking object in its mouth all but finished off this rather scary look. Taki would've been lying if he said he wasn't legitimately creeped out for a second. Its hands, fingers squirming and all, crept closer to him, presumably to attack him in some way.

Before it could, though, the light turned on, and Mitsuha tried in vain to keep looking scary.

"What are you doing?"

"I- I was trying to…scare you, I guess?" Mitsuha felt pretty embarrassed; she thought it was a cute and crafty idea to mess with him, but he didn't seem like he was having any of it. But nonetheless, he did appreciate the motives behind doing so, and spread his arms open to her.

"Well, if you really wanted attention, all you'd have to do is-"

Mitsuha pounced on Taki, wrapping her arms around his neck before he could even finish. Pushing herself down on top of him, she locked lips with him and serenaded his mouth with her own. Taki did nothing to resist and returned every bit of her sentiment back to her.

Eventually their mouths diverted for breath, but a slimy trail of saliva still linked between them. Taki wasn't quite sure what got into Mitsuha, and to be frank, neither did she. But needless to say they both loved how affectionate the other was to them. They gazed at each other for a few moments, sending subliminal messages of adoration to each other.

 _Never in my life…did I ever imagine I'd wake up in some guy's body…and that the guy…would be my future husband…_

Mitsuha rested her weight on Taki's body, and lowered herself down for a good night kiss of sorts. Probably a little more than that.

* * *

Inconspicuously, they entered the meeting room at Mitsuha's building together, more or less getting the attention of the other attendants of the meeting. They were both a little early, but obviously not as early as the people already there.

The few people in the room got a chance to get acquainted as they waited for everyone else to show up.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tachibana Taki."

"Taki, what are you doing?"

Apparently Mitsuha had forgotten that they were in a partners meeting, and not some social gathering. So her confusion as to why Taki was introducing himself was met with equal confusion, provided the reaction she gave to who would otherwise be considered just a stranger. Taki tried very hard to not get annoyed by Mitsuha's response, since he was trying to act professional and not make anything seem weird.

It was kind of awkward for her, though. She didn't feel like she had anything to hide in terms of her relationship with Taki, but she was also cognizant to the idea of her coworkers being a little perplexed at what just happened. But. She was the head honcho on her side of the business relationship. So she figured she'd just come clean.

"Okay! Cat's out of the bag, this Tachibana person is my boyfriend."

 _Tachibana person? Eh. I'm sure she knows what she's doing._ He figured she had it under control, and decided to come clean himself, too.

"Yep!"

"Ooohhh, well nice to meet you, Mr. Mitsuha's suitor!"

* * *

Taki did most of the talking and most of the presentation of the project to the lenders, and his architects only spoke when it was deemed fitting. It was made clear that he was a smart guy and had a lot of affinity for his line of work, and his eloquent and articulate way of speaking made it all the more remarkable. The reps were impressed to say the least. Mitsuha didn't give a rat's ass about the strip mall.

 _Taki's so handsome…he's so smart…_

The meeting adjourned almost uneventfully; he'd done such a good job showing off the project that there wasn't much need for further discussion afterwards, and it looked like Taki had done a pretty good sell job. Ironic, considering the other individuals in the room were paid to sell things themselves.

Everyone went off to do their own thing, but Taki and Mitsuha were willing to milk out every last second they could with each other before Taki had to go back to his own building.

"I'll go with you to the station."

As they walked hand-in-hand towards the station, they didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about anything. Just a few words about what Mitsuha thought about his project. And they got to the station before they could even realize it.

And here they were again. Back at a train station, struggling to depart from each other to go to work. Sound familiar?

"I don't care if anyone sees."

Taki threw no caution to the wind, and pulled Mitsuha in for a goodbye smooch, which caught her off guard a little bit. Still, they both wanted it, and perhaps needed it for reasons they probably don't even know. But going back to work without each other was a little easier. The work day was just about half over anyway.

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 **A/N: I hate school, I hate football (if you're a neutral fan of football, please remain that way, you will be disappointed for significantly less weekends), I hate life, nah I'm just kidding. But I AM VERY SORRY FOR THE DELAY** **. School has consumed so much of my time, and I have so much less flexibility to write this fic. So honestly, to everyone, thanks for sticking around.**

 **And, NEW FAVORITERS AND FOLLOWERS, oh my goodness, welcome** **. I wonder if a lot of you are first time viewers of the movie, and if so, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and welcome to the program!**

 **But yeah, this funny thing called life put a serious dent in my writing time, so this is all I have for you this time. I have no intention of cutting this off anytime soon, since there's still so many things I have in my tiny brain, it's just the time is a little constrained. Nevertheless, the story will still go on, it's just hard to predict when it'll come.**

 **As for the story, I got the idea to do this coworkers arc since I just recently did a month long internship of sorts for an architectural firm (unpaid since I'm considered a minor, of course) over the summer, so I figured I knew enough about the industry to implement it into the story, since that is Taki's line of work after all. I had some family members who work in the banking industry help me out with Mitsuha's side of things, but there wasn't much they could tell me since a lot of it is behind the curtains. Nonetheless I think I'm done writing about their professional endeavors for now.**

 **As to what to expect for the next few chapters, obviously planning the wedding will take place, but there's also some loose ends to tie up, like everything going on with Mitsuha's grandma.**

 **So yeah, I don't plan on ending the story any time soon. Once again, a huge thank you to anyone taking the time to read my story. Old followers still sticking around, your continued viewership means so much to me. And new readers and followers, welcome to my unstable and fragile mind, sometimes it produces stories like this one, so thanks a ton for tuning in.**

 **That's it from me this time. See y'all whenever. And HAPPY HALLOWEEN, I guess. Cheers.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Taaki-kuuunnn…"

 _Hmm. What's gotten into her lately?_

The last few days coming home from work started out pretty much just like that. Taki always came home after Mitsuha, who as of recently has greeted Taki very exhaustedly. She'd do the same thing. Lazily yell out his name, walk up to him and latch his neck with her arms, and basically take a nap on him.

It was confusing to say the least. But it certainly didn't mean he enjoyed her affection any less.

 _She must be happy about something…_

He relaxed and held Mitsuha, comforting her and reciprocating her love right back at her. And he was feeling it himself, too, until Mitsuha let go of him and started pulling him with his arm, dragging him somewhere else in his apartment.

"Wha-…Mitsuha…Mitsuha?"

And not a word was returned to him, as Mitsuha continued to lead him into his own pad. It was kind of funny, actually, since his apartment was so small, but he legitimately had no idea where Mitsuha was taking him.

Hey, look at that, it's his bedroom, he definitely didn't see that coming. In his mind, there was only one reason why they would be here at 1730.

"Mitsuha, I'm…I'm too tired…"

"So am I, Taki-kun…"

She slowly removed his suit, piece by piece, meeting no resistance from Taki. His mind was in a different place, or maybe it just wasn't sure what to do, as he quietly let Mitsuha undress him. Before long, he was down to just his underwear, and his mind and body were at a crossroads. The result was a stiff and almost numb Taki, who couldn't do anything to save himself when Mitsuha pushed him down onto his bed. Taki could barely blink, that's how fast she got undressed.

And Taki ascended into a higher plane, feeling his testosterone levels exceed safe levels. His heart started pounding, and his body started to heat up a ton. He was getting really nervous, and he himself wasn't even sure why. He'd hug and kiss Mitsuha all the time, but now that they were…y'know…he was getting all excited. And he actually tried to tell himself _phew…alright, deep breaths…just relax._

Mitsuha crawled onto the bed, and Taki was ready to explode. Here he was. A man in his 20s. Getting ready to…yeah. He'd had sex with Mitsuha before, a few times as a matter of fact. But why was he so worked up now? Anyway, his fatigue evaporated and his sleepiness vacated his body. He was wide awake, and ready.

But. What Mitsuha ended up doing was snuggling against him under his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Taking a deep yawn and wrapping her arm around his body, tangling her legs with his.

"Good night, Taki-kun…"

In the midst of his confusion, Mitsuha ended up falling asleep, made clear by her very quiet snoring. Taki needed a second to recollect his composure, as most of his brain had left him in a state of hormonal struggle. And as his wits returned to him, his sexual drive dissipated, and left him in a state pretty close to anger.

"What…what? WHAT?!"

"Mmm…Taki-kun, what's wrong?"

"AH-…oh…"

Seeing Mitsuha's sleepy face calmed him down. She was exhausted from her clearly long day. And a nice nap with her man would've done her a lot of good. Considering they might go out later tonight.

"Mmm?"

"Nothing. Just…go to sleep, sweetheart…"

"Mmm…"

She nestled her head back on Taki. Her soft and silky hair felt pretty nice against his skin, and he started to relax a little too.

"Y'know, in America, they call little stuffed bears 'teddy bears'."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…hehe…you're my 'Taki bear'…" She blushed and chuckled, thinking she was super clever and adorable for coming up with that.

"Wow…"

"What, you didn't think that was cute?"

"Eh-…well…"

Mitsuha didn't need an answer from him, the blush in Taki's face said everything. So she took it with a grain of salt and went ahead and did what she got in bed to do in the first place. And Taki figured he'd just do the same, since he was pretty tired too.

* * *

*bang bang bang bang bang*

"Eh…wha-…"

Furious banging on the door severed their state of slumber, and the two of them looked at each other to see who would be the one to get it.

"Actually you know what, I'll get it! Who the hell thinks they can just walk up and bang on someone's door?!"

Taki grumpily stomped towards his apartment door, preparing all sorts of verbal punches to throw at this nap disruptor. Anyone who knew Taki better than as just an acquaintance knew that he never had a very calm reaction to being woken up erratically, in stark contrast to his normally calm personality. He was a pretty cranky individual waking up, period, but something like this absolutely got him riled up.

So when he reached his door, with all his might, he violently grabbed the door handle, yanked it down, and swung his door open, and prepared his lungs and vocal cords for a very loud tirade at this visitor.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WA-…oh…"

Taki got so mad that he completely forgot that he was only wearing a pair of boxers, so opening the door with Tsukasa and Shinta standing with clear view of his minimalist attire created a rather awkward scene.

They all just stood there and looked at each other, not really sure what to say. And this painfully uncomfortable standoff withstood for about another 30 seconds. All three participants despondent, not wanting to say anything that would make the current circumstances any worse.

Footsteps approaching did nothing to break this stare-down, so Mitsuha couldn't have had any idea of what was going on. No verbal warnings or cues or anything. "Taki-kun, what's going o- AHHH!"

Also in her underwear, Mitsuha retreated out of visibility, not realizing so until she saw that it was Taki's friends.

So given everything that had just happened, it was fair to assume that Tsukasa and Shinta were imagining the worst, and there wasn't anything Taki or Mitsuha could do or say to convince them otherwise.

"*sigh*…before you ask, yes, this is a pretty bad time." Taki was pretty embarrassed as it was, so his desperate search for a resolution to this 'predicament' was top notch priority.

"Mmm…well, for some of us at leas-"

"Do not finish that sentence…"

"Hm-hmm. Well anyway, when you guys get decent, do we wanna grab dinner or drinks?"

"Why couldn't you just call or message me, instead of banging on my door?"

"Oh c'mon dude, what happened to the old days, where we would just show up at each other's places to ask if we could come out and play?"

"Yeah, only this time there's no parents to awkwardly answer the door and tell you no!"

Taki wasn't having any of it, but nonetheless was interested in the idea of spending Friday with his homeboys. But, part of him also wanted to just spend the weekend with Mitsuha alone.

"Listen guys, I already told Mitsuha it'd just be us this weekend."

"Well what if I told yo-"

"Hey, Taki-kun! Do you wanna get dinner with the group?" Mitsuha, dressed and everything, came out of nowhere, phone in hand and looking eager to go out tonight.

"What?"

Tsukasa and Shinta could only chuckle at how everything was working out. "Saya and Tessie are at the mall waiting to put down a name for a table, buuut…we don't know how big a table to get."

"Up to you, Taki-kun. I'm fine either way."

Every outing with the entire group was always fun. Memories for a lifetime were forged every single time. But. He really, really just wanted to be with Mitsuha by themselves.

"Eh- well…maybe not dinner, but if you guys are doing something afterwards, we can meet up."

"Yeah, sounds good. We'll let you know."

"Alrighty then. So are you glad you made your way all the way up here when we could've settled this over the phone?"

"Well, yeah! We were in the area and thought, y'know, why not?"

As little sense as it made, and how inefficient coming all the way up here was, Taki appreciated the gesture nonetheless. To come out of their way to fetch their friend and bring them along for the shenanigans was endearing, to say the least. Nice to know after all these years, their friendship hadn't diminished in the slightest.

The male pair departed, and the engaged couple returned to their abode. As soon as Taki closed the door, he grabbed Mitsuha from behind and held her tight. She leaned back into him, allowing herself to sink deeper and deeper into his warmth.

And as much as she wanted to hang out with the gang tonight, she understood. And she would've been a liar to say she didn't want alone time with Taki too. They'd spent a lot of time out and about, expending a lot of time and energy, and last weekend exhausted them more than they expected. A Friday night inside with each other would be a nice break.

"Hey. You know what he haven't done?"

"What's that?"

"We haven't…just…sat down and watched a movie together…from beginning to end. I mean, we've watched anime in bed together, yeah. But. Have we ever just sat down and held each other watching a movie? Isn't that like a total couple thing to do?"

"That's…now that I think about it, we've never done that. Oh! I've got an idea. I say…we watch a romantic comedy. Not like _Oregairu_ where it's a bunch of teenagers. Like…one of those…I think they call 'em 'chick flicks' in America. But like, a wedding movie. A movie about all the hijinks a couple goes through leading up to a wedding! Y'know, get some ideas about what we wanna do for ours and whatnot. And I guess, know what to expect, more or less."

The next 2 or so hours were spent indulging on a Western rom com called 'I Love You, Man'. A pretty vulgar but funny and surprisingly heartwarming movie about an engaged man trying to find a best man for his wedding. Taki's sense of humor gave him appreciation for most of the crude jokes thrown out over the course of the movie. And he enjoyed the movie in a much different manner than he was probably supposed to.

For Mitsuha, it hit a little bit more personally for her. Nothing to do with her herself, per say. But rather one of her closest friends. Tessie. She couldn't help but draw parallels between the protagonist of this movie and her childhood friend. And how he, as his and Saya's wedding day approached, would inevitably have to find a best man for their big day. Of course she could bank on the idea of the likes of Taki or Shinta or any of the males in their group, but the relationship between a groom and best man has to be special, and not done out of circumstance. It takes time to develop, and while Tessie is generally pretty easy to get along with, there's no doubt that this would be a problem he and Saya would have to address sooner or later. The exact same problem this guy in this movie was having.

And Taki had spent enough time with her to know when she was thinking about something. Beyond anything visual dead giveaways could show.

"Looks like you're thinking about something. Wanna talk about it?"

"Wh- what? I'm…not thinking about anything."

"Oh, c'mon. You're my future wife. I can see it, it's written all over your face."

"Well…don't you think that…Peter's a lot like…Tessie? In a way?"

"Mmm, not real-…oh…I think I know what you're getting at."

"Right? I mean, I just can't help but think…actually…Taki-kun, I don't wanna deal with this right now. We stayed inside so we can be with each other. What's the point if I'm just talking about my friends the whole time?"

"You talk about it whenever you please, I'll always be listening. But don't think we can't talk about it just because you want it to be about us. Our friends are just as big in our lives as anything else, right? I consider Saya and Tessie to be very close friends of mine, too. Remember, I hung out with them in your body every other day for two weeks!"

"Well, then, we're not talking about it. Because I said so." But she had to show Taki some gratitude for showing he does care about her childhood friends as much as she did. It meant more to her than she could describe. She pounced into Taki, driving him down on his couch, as he wasn't expecting it and couldn't physically react.

"But. The fact that you're always here for me makes me want to cry. Y'know. I don't think I've ever said the words 'you're the best boyfriend ever' to you. Have I?"

Short silence befell Taki momentarily. She was getting all sentimental again, and so was he. "Well. Am I?"

Mitsuha knew better than to feed him with words that sounded nice, just because he wanted to hear her say it. "You really are a little dense, aren't you…"

"What can I say…"

* * *

A nearby pub was good enough for dinner as they weren't really that hungry. But, this was a different vibe than anything they'd ever been in. It was loud, the aura was abrasive, and just overall uncomfortable. At least for two introverted people like Taki and Mitsuha.

A drunk man walked by and ran his fingers through Mitsuha's hair, setting off a killer instinct in Taki neither of them knew he had. There was no way he would sit and watch some stranger put his hands on Mitsuha. He abruptly stood up and came face-to-face with this random patron, fists clenched and ready to pummel him. The drunkard's friends showed some empathy, and pulled their incapacitated friend away to save him from a beatdown. Physical advantage or not, nothing was going to stop Taki from mauling him. As they went away, Taki's attention returned to his girlfriend, who'd could easily say was just sexually harassed.

"Are you okay?"

Her facial response was all he needed. She just gave him look of impression over his assertiveness, and overall thankfulness that Taki was her man. Standing up for her like that. Admittedly she was startled, and slightly offended. But seeing Taki confront the guy gave her feeling of nothing to worry about.

As if neither of them were already on edge from what just happened, a couple of scantily clad women, also presumably intoxicated, approached Taki, enamored by his facial glory. One of them went as far as to try to stroke Taki's cheek.

But she never had the chance to do so. Because the second this woman's hand reached Taki's face, Mitsuha leapt out of her stool, grabbing her wrist and pulling it away from Taki, and backhanding this woman's cheek with her other hand. For reasons she knew she would have trouble explaining. But safe to say that it was most likely out of reaction to seeing Taki stand up for her earlier.

The drunk woman stumbled back, stunlocked by the hit from Mitsuha, who was probably more surprised than anyone else that she did that. Now absorbing what had just happened, she covered her mouth in embarrassment and horror, and took a few steps back, immediately regretting what she just did. Before anything could start, Taki grabbed Mitsuha and they escaped the pub to avoid any more unnecessary conflict.

Mitsuha was a visibly shell-shocked at what she'd just done, and couldn't contain her emotions. Everything was hitting her at once and she was starting to lose composure by the ounce.

"Taki-kun…Taki-kun…I…I don't know…"

Through tears and a stiff throat, she tried to explain what just happened. Maybe more so to herself than to Taki. For the amount of surprise that came when Taki clashed with the guy that touched Mitsuha, the shock was amplified greatly by what Mitsuha had just done.

"TAKI-KUN…I DON'T KNOW WHY I DID THAT…I…SHE…SHE WAS GONNA TOUCH YOU AND…I DON'T KNOW! WHY DID I DO THAT?!"

Taki took her away from the pub, more so to make sure that no one would come after them. But he also needed a private space to comfort his girlfriend.

The emotions continued to overwhelm Mitsuha, as the most brutal mix of contrasting feelings stripped her of her rational thinking. She sobbed and sobbed uncontrollably. There was no way she could process anything anyone would say to her, so all he could do, or rather all he wanted to do, was hold her tight, give her a warm and loving aura, and let her unload.

And while Mitsuha was letting it all out, Taki softened a little bit. And came to be seriously happy over what just happened. Yeah. Some delinquents tried to get chummy with them. And their personal bubbles were undeniably violated. But to him, a plentiful amount of good came out of this. First things first, they knew never to go to a pub this late ever again. But more than that, it was what he came to realize about their love.

The protective instinct. The involuntary response to seeing their beloved get hurt, in any way, shape, or form. And the complete disregard for anything else to deliver justice as they see fit. Never mind the fact that they stood up for each other to begin with. The organic hostility, the violent reaction to anyone disrespecting the other. The outright anger seeing someone do their loved one wrong.

Taki wasn't so surprised that he had it for Mitsuha. He thought it was just a natural guy thing. But seeing Mitsuha. Watching her retaliate the way she did. He would've never guessed he had that in her. Yeah, she was paying a pretty heavy price for it emotionally. But to know the relentlessness and the unbound motivation to come to his rescue. He couldn't help but smile. And feel like he fell in love with her all over again. For about the millionth time.

"Taki-kun…I'm…I embarrassed you…I'm…I'm so…so sorry…"

Mitsuha was beyond humiliated for what she just did. Physically harming another person. Putting her significant other in an unneeded spotlight. Shaming the very tranquil nature and demeanor she'd spent so much of her life maintaining. But none more so than putting Taki in a difficult spot.

"Sorry for what? You stood up for me, and I couldn't be more grateful for that…"

Mitsuha smirked a little, feeling some of the tension ease. She too came to be happy to know Taki had her back and vice versa. There was probably a better way to handle all of that, at least to Mitsuha. But she shared Taki's sentiment. Nothing was going to stand in the way of each other.

"It was crazy…I was so nervous, and then I got so mad, and then I got scared, and then I was embarrassed, and…" Mitsuha had to fight to prevent another breakdown. At least she could rest easy in Taki's arms, though.

"You didn't embarrass me at all. I'm beyond proud that you're my girlfriend."

"You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that…"

"In fact, I'd even say…'you're the best girlfriend ever'!"

Still trembling from every other emotion she was feeling, Mitsuha still got a laugh out of Taki. His silliness. His cheerful and confidant personality always made her happy. Reeling, yes. But not to say she wasn't happy.

* * *

Bumping elbows was one thing, but literally having your shoulder touch someone else's was a new level of claustrophobia.

 _What's going on today?_

The usual commute to work was busier than normal. Not a single space to stand comfortably on this crowded train. Seriously, there must've been at least 3 times the normal number of passengers on this morning train. Commuting 9-to-5ers by the dozens were crammed tight into this vehicle, comparable to the classic 'sardines in a can' idiom. Mitsuha must've been bumped in an inappropriate place at least 5 times.

Feeling a small space behind her to get some breathing room, she wiggled in her tiny standing spot to turn around where she stood. And came face to face with Taki.

"Oh! Taki-kun?"

Taki, looking down at his phone, peered upward, tilting his head up to look Mitsuha in the eye. She was more than relieved to see him, but at the same time was a little confused. Taki wasn't normally on this train to get to work.

"You again?"

Taki had a genuine look of confusion to go along with his remark, legitimately unsure of how the person standing on front of him knew his name. Met with equal confusion from Mitsuha.

"T-…Taki-kun?"

"You…why do you keep following me…"

"Wha-…Taki-kun?"

Mitsuha's heart felt like it shattered into a million pieces. She'd experienced this before, though. When she met Taki 8 years ago, he hadn't met her yet in his own time. So the feeling of embarrassment when he didn't know who she was came rushing back to her. Actually, no. It was minimal, insignificant, and paled greatly in comparison to the grief she was feeling at the moment. Her dearest…had forgotten her somehow. And she slowly started to panic.

"No…no…this is a trick…Taki-kun, you're messing with me…"

"What are you talking about…"

Mitsuha began to cry, refusing to believe that Taki had actually forgotten her. Yet, in the back of her head, she couldn't shake the idea of this actually happening. Tears obscured her vision, and her mental state was starting to turn for the worse. Emotionally and psychologically, the idea of not having Taki slowly destroyed her.

"Taki-kun…it's me…Mitsuha…your girlfriend…your fiancée…"

Taki's eyes opened wide, as if he'd just undergone a serious realization. The kind of facial reaction to having your whole life replayed in front of you. Not soon after, his face and eyes softened, and then quickly replaced with joy. He'd clearly just remembered who this was standing in front of him. And leapt at her to hug her.

"Mitsuh-"

Before she could embrace him…he disappeared. Gone. Without a trace. Nothing, no evidence or signs that he was even on this train to begin with. He just…vanished.

"Taki-kun? Taki-kun?! TAKI-KUN!"

She'd lost it. The harsh transition of emotions sent her spiraling. Unable to restrain herself, she wailed loudly in the middle of a crowded train. The looks she got from the other passengers were of little concern to her, although it was worth noting that their facial reactions all but told they had no idea what just happened.

In the middle of her breakdown, she felt herself become weightless, and the presence of the train and the surrounding passengers went away. Her attention shifted, and her mind was back in place as she found herself floating in a bright myriad of colors. Spinning and surrounding her, violently thrashing back and forth more and more rapidly. And then they all disappeared.

Now Mitsuha was floating in the middle of this void. Blackness. Darkness. Nothing. Not even a solid surface to stand on. But. Something was coming. It wasn't light, though. Mitsuha could see something approaching her in the distance, but couldn't tell what it was. Before she could speculate, it came to her.

And…it looked like a window. Peering into somewhere. A spectral window, a spatial window? Hmm. Mitsuha wasn't going to pretend she knew what was going on. So she did all she could do in her situation, and look into this window.

And what she saw was a strange memory. One that she personally had never seen. No recollection and almost absolute certainty that she'd never actually experienced this. Yet, it felt so familiar. It felt so real. She'd never seen or felt this memory, yet felt like she knew exactly what was going to happen. Almost as if she'd felt this in a different…timeline?

"Taki!"

Standing in the middle of an open field in Itomori, gazing at the sky as a meteorite approached the Earth, was Taki. Petrified by awe and amazement by this meteor. Oblivious to what was about to happen.

"RUN, TAKI! RUN! GET OUT OF THERE, NOOOO!"

He didn't flinch. Not even the slightest attempt to get away. And the meteorite hit him head on and crushed him. The light expunged from the impact spared her of all the gory details, but it didn't make the horrific scene before her any easier to watch.

And honestly, she felt like she could die. She felt like her heart and her head were about to burst out of existence. The emotional torment was nothing like she'd ever experienced. In her youth, she'd detested emotional attachment to anything, feeling like it wasn't necessary for anything. That only made the feeling of losing everything that much more painful.

But in this desolate void, she felt gravity start to return, her weight come back to her. She gave up trying to understand anything that was going on, but above all, she didn't think it mattered anyway. What did she have? Where would she go? Her single most beloved and precious part of her life was gone. In the blink of an eye.

 _Why…why…nothing's fair anymore…nothing…_

She felt herself falling. Fast. Falling faster and faster. So fast that at some point she felt like she would just eventually die from the G-forces of her rapid descent. And just went she was starting to blank, the void began to brighten. The blackness quickly dissipated and was replaced with light. And then color. A lot of them. The same swirling rainbow that twisted her around in every way possible. But at that point, she'd let go of everything. She didn't care anymore.

 _At…at least…take me to Taki-kun…_

* * *

Ironically, her wish was granted. With her head rested on his shoulder, the first thing she saw when she woke up was Taki's body. But the dream had disoriented her enough to leave her in a state of denial. Was she really back in their apartment? Only one way to find out.

But she herself didn't even know what that 'one way' was, and it didn't matter. Not too long after she woke up, she felt the arms around her grapple her, and squeeze her tight. And there was something leaning against the side of her head. She felt a warm, wet sensation against her cheek. And the sound of someone crying.

So when she realized what just happened, she began to whimper, and reached forward to embrace this body lying beside her.

"Mitsuha…Mitsuha…" Taki's voice cracked from emotion. His throat was choked up and unable to let out much.

After her nightmare and what happened at the pub, Mitsuha didn't think she was physically able to cry anymore. By no stretch was she not grieving; she was still saddened. But perhaps more than anything, she was exceedingly glad it wasn't reality. It was just another dream. A strange dream. And it sure looked like Taki felt the same. And that he'd just experienced the same thing.

"It's okay…Taki-kun…it's okay…I'm here…" Mitsuha comforted Taki, stroking his back and serenading him with her soft voice, reminding him that they still had each other.

"I…I can't even begin to explain the dream I just had…"

"Talk to me…what did you see? I'm…almost certain I saw something pretty similar…"

"On…on a train…a crowded train…I called out to you…and you didn't recognize me…"

"I see…"

"But then…you remembered who I was…and before we could hold each other…"

"I vanished…right?"

"Ahh…so you did have the same dream…"

"And then you were in a black void…and saw me…meet my demise at the hands of a meteorite…"

"…sounds pretty much spot on…"

"So yes…sounds like we did have the same dream…only the roles were reversed in our own…"

"Mitsuha…I…watched you perish…for a second time…"

"Well, I watched you die, too…"

This was the most vulnerable she'd ever seen Taki. The first he'd ever let out his emotions like this. Of course he could be a softie at times. He could be romantic, and he could show his feelings and love for Mitsuha. But this was new. Never before had he shown emotions of fear, despair, anguish…this strongly. He was hurt, and scared. But selfishly, she felt a little glad. Since it only meant that he loved her that much. Not that she needed any more evidence. But she wouldn't ever deny the sentiment.

"I love you, Taki…"

"I love you too, Mitsuha…"

They laid in bed for a while after, almost strangling each other. If there was ever a time where they legitimately felt like they could lose each other, it was right there. The dream had done a number on their psyche, and seeing all of that, tied in with everything they went through as teenagers, they knew nothing was for certain. Perhaps that's why they feel like they're so close.

"Taki-kun…is it time?"

"Time to what? Go…ahh…I get it…yeah…I think it's time…"

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 **A/N: Happy Tuesday, ya'll. And to anyone not reading on a Tuesday, happy whatever day it is to ya! Thanks for tuning in, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, for new readers who've made it this far, thanks for the time of day and welcome to the show!**

 **It only took 19 chapters, but finally some serious conflict, albeit very brief. The little scuffle in the pub was something I've been intending to do for a few chapters, but wasn't really sure how it would fit in with the rest of the story. I definitely needed something that would put them through something that would maybe define or even redefine their relationship, and personally, that scene and how it played out is probably the most pleased I've been with my writing for a while. I'm gonna be totally honest. This whole chapter in general, in my opinion, is the best one of written in a while. And I'm not sure why.**

 **Anyways, the last few sentences should probably foreshadow what the next chapter is gonna look like. I subtly made this a point in an earlier chapter, and totally neglected it until now, so only makes sense to shift the focus towards that only 12 or something chapters later. I'll leave the rest to imagination, and we'll see where it goes later.**

 **And yeah. Much shorter gap between chapters, my first exam wave is over, and I've salvaged a lot of free time, and it felt good to be able to put this story together again. Football becomes more and more unbearable to watch as my college team got completely stomped on, and my pro team is on a 5 game losing streak. So maybe that's why I'm spending so much more time writing.**

 **So that's it from me this time. Once again, thank you to each and every one of you who's read even a word of my story. I've said it a million times, but it's always worth mentioning that knowing that there are people who choose to read my story with their free time is always a good feeling. You guys rock. With that, see ya whenever, guys. Cheers.**


	20. Chapter 20

Neither of them found much luck falling back to sleep. Especially not after what'd just happened. They'd force their eyes closed, turn a little bit, and find themselves wide-eyed and awake. The cycle would repeat a few times before they felt like they were going crazy.

The physical tiredness was enough to keep them in bed, though. It wasn't like they could just get up and do whatever. They were completely exhausted emotionally and mentally, so the willpower to get out of bed just wasn't there. So they did the next best thing, and just talked. Chatted and conversed about life. Trying to dig up more about each other outside of everything that they already knew. There wasn't much. They already knew almost everything there was to know about each other. But they tried anyway.

For what, though? Nothing better to do at the time? They could argue that, of course. But deep down…they knew that after their impending journey, and by the time the sun would set in 16 hours from then, complete change was in the cards. They knew that nothing could be same by the time everything was set and done.

Mitsuha squeezed Taki as hard as she could, and pressed herself against him with all her might. "Taki-kun…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm…I'm scared…"

The old 'everything's gonna be okay' like wasn't going to work this time. He just didn't know. He would've been a liar to say he knew how to fix everything, and keep everything in check. It also would've been cruel of him to assure something to her, only to have everything fall apart. That's the situation they were in.

They were dreams, though. Visions and apparitions of that which you don't believe can be real. Dreams aren't supposed to come true, at least if you don't make them happen yourself. But all the evidence to prove otherwise was smack dab in the middle of their memories. There was no way to prove to anyone that they switched bodies for two weeks, but it happened anyway. They only had each other to validate so. That being said, the same miracle that brought them together, and fostered all of this joy and happiness, could very easily tear them apart.

That's why it scared them so terribly. There's no other reason they would be together. But they loved each other. Dearly. There wasn't really anybody to thank for this predicament. Dear God, they were gonna milk every last minute of it they could. Neither of them would really know what to do without the other.

"Mitsuha…you know I'd fight to my dying breath to be with you…I have no idea what lies ahead of us. I'm just as scared as you are. But rest assured, I would push all of my capabilities to the extreme to stay by your side…"

The lump in Mitsuha's throat wasn't going to let her say anything, as if she had anything in mind to respond with anyway. It shouldn't be a surprise that such a quiet girl like her would be one to let actions speak for her. So she leaned into Taki and kissed him.

* * *

No one ever makes anything out of getting dressed in the morning. It's a basic routine that everyone does just to do it. There wasn't anything about it that would make it special.

Maybe that's why it meant so much to Taki and Mitsuha, then.

The train station was close to empty this early in the morning. The coffee could only do so much to keep them awake. Taki had been on this journey before. Mitsuha went on one herself, only in the reverse direction. Plenty of sentiments to be had here, but it wasn't quite the time and place for them. Despite being 5 years ago, Taki could retrace every single step he took on his first time vividly. Pretty much like it happened yesterday. So he couldn't help but draw parallels. And yes, there was some nostalgia and some common points between today and 5 years ago. But the clear and obvious difference this time around gave him mixed feelings about this whole trip.

He spent most of the commute urging Mitsuha to get as much sleep as she could. She would try, but at the end of the day, there was just too much anxiety to relax at all, let alone fall asleep. Part of them wanted the train rides to last forever, but they knew there had to be a bottom to this. And the pressure to get to it was mounting.

But if you were to ask them, they probably wouldn't even have a definite idea of why they were traveling to Itomori at the crack of dawn. The real reason would just sound crazy, but they themselves weren't even sure if it was why altogether. Perhaps the fear of being separated scared them enough to go out, and see if there's anything that would relieve them at all.

 _Sure. Let's go with that…_

They got awfully lucky finding a cab driver that would take them out to the wasteland that was formerly Itomori. Getting out of the car felt all too familiar to Taki, but Mitsuha wouldn't have known, really. The two perspectives of which Taki and Mitsuha saw the scene before them for the first time contrasted to a fair level of fascination, actually. Taki seeing it from the top of the perch against Mitsuha being right in the middle of it. Memories of their respective fateful days replayed instantly, and both were awestruck with the magnitude of what had happened. Taki got a little choked up, because it was in that spot where he slowly felt his first memories of Mitsuha disappear. Her memos on his phone began to vanish, and he struggled to even remember her name eventually. For Mitsuha, seeing her home town destroyed wasn't easy. Remembering it just brought back unpleasant feelings.

So many years had passed by, but everything looked exactly the same. At least how it did after the meteor. Perhaps the former town's own anonymity was what preserved its aesthetic qualities more than anything. What reason would anyone have to come out here, and who other than its former citizens and those who witnessed it firsthand would have even known about Itomori at all? Maybe it was for the better. Because it made it that much easier for Taki and Mitsuha to remember where to go.

Thankful for their journey up Mount Takao, they traversed the rocky path rather easily. The two had a lot to say, and a lot on their mind, but anxiety more than anything muffled them and withheld whatever thoughts they had to themselves. Taki wanted to say something, then Mitsuha wanted to say something, the whole trip to the center of the crater was a miscommunicated mess. Understandably so, though. Neither of them had any reason to be mentally 100%.

Eventually, the trek was over. And before them was the cave. Yes, that cave. The cave where Mitsuha had laid down the key for Taki to tremendously alter reality, shift timelines into a more gratuitous fate. Taki remembered how confused he was at himself for coming all the way out here. In fact, he remembered being a little frustrated at how much time he must've wasted. It didn't take long for a change of heart to take place, though. Looking over at Mitsuha, he would've easily done all of it again for her.

And it overwhelmed him a little bit, so he grabbed her and held her tight. Whatever premonition told her why he was doing so, she didn't care. She knew, and comforted him accordingly. She again took a moment to soak in this vulnerability that Taki was showing. He'd never been this emotional, for any reason, ever. She understood his pride, and knew there would be very, very few more moments where he would just be putty in her arms like this. Perhaps this one even being the last one, who knows?

After he regained his composure, Taki took her over to the small creek that surrounded the cave. The one they had each crossed enough times to know how to conquer it. He hunched over, hands on his knees and turned back to Mitsuha.

"Come on, now. Get on."

"What?"

"I'm not letting you walk in the water. Hop on my back, I'll take you across."

Mitsuha was ready to cry from Taki's sweetness. But she didn't want to keep him waiting, so she piggybacked him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his body. Out of all the times she'd ever hugged Taki, this was brand new. Why wouldn't she let it sink in a little bit?

She could've practically fallen asleep on Taki's back, that's how relaxed she was. But getting closer to the cave inspired new alertness, and she didn't want to miss what could be coming. Their hearts pounded faster and faster with every step they took towards the cave. For what? They probably didn't even know either. And as a matter of fact, every step towards the cave generated a greater confusion and uncertainty. At the climax of the journey, why were they all of the sudden so obscured as to what their entire motive was to come out here? Searching for answers? To see if anything was in there that would give answers?

 _How about all of the above…sure._

The cave was pretty deep, so it felt like forever by the time they got to the end. And everything was pretty much the same. The little shrine, and the one left bottle of _kuchikamisake_ belonging the Yotsuha. Everything seemed pretty normal. Except…another bottle of saliva sake. And just like the other bottle, the writing on it was slightly worn by collecting dirt of the years. But thankfully it hadn't completely worn away the writing, as it did with Yotsuha's. So Mitsuha picked it up, and rubbed away the dirt with her thumb, only to read:

 _Taki_

A third bottle of kuchikamisake. One unopened, one consumed, and one unaccounted for until now. Left by the only other person who had been in here since that day. Taki.

"T-…Taki-kun?"

At a complete loss for words, Taki just stared at this mysterious vial. With his name inscribed on it. Having no recollection of ever producing this. Of course there wasn't anything that the contents would reveal. Or would it…

If anyone were to ask Taki what went through his head over the next few seconds, he would never have an answer. But he put the bottle with his name on it down, reached over and picked up Yotsuha's, uncapped it and drank it.

"Taki?! Why would you do that?"

And momentarily, Taki's eyes opened wide…and then he passed out. Normally, Mitsuha would've began to freak out and panic beyond all hope of recovery. But…the reason they came on this journey tied into what inspired them in the first place. Strange things happen. Some for the better, some for worse, and being the cave mysteriously helped her understand that right away. She didn't know why, but she was eerily calm. And not worried about his well-being at all. There wasn't any way she could know what exactly was happening to him, but the overwhelming feeling of him undergoing a dream made too much sense in her head for her to dismiss. So she sat back down. And patiently waited for him to return to the real world.

Which didn't take long. A few seconds later, Taki woke up in a panicked gasp. His head darted around, as he reoriented himself, and when his eyes landed on a confused Mitsuha, he quickly reached over to his kuchikamisake bottle, and frantically gave it to Mitsuha.

"Mitsuha! Drink this! Please drink this, you have to see what I saw!"

The tone in his voice made her very hesitant. It was morbid, and uninspiring to say the least. Needless to say she was absolutely terrified at what Taki could've seen. Why else would he be in this state of mind? But not doing so would defeat the whole purpose of coming out here. So she unceremoniously opened the bottle of saliva sake, only 3 years less spoiled than the one he'd just drank. And quickly gulped it down. Before she could even register the taste in her brain, she got very dizzy, and her vision started to become impaired, and the feeling of hallucination enveloped her as colors and light obfuscated her visual perception further and further. The last thing she felt before drifting into wherever was Taki wrapping his arms around her. After that she was gone.

Taki noticed that not a whole lot of time had passed during his dream. Or any time, for that matter, it'd only been a few seconds. So he didn't even bother to sit and get comfortable because he knew Mitsuha would be right back in a matter of time.

And what do you know, she did. Part of him was expecting her to be bawling, but deep down, the reaction he got from her didn't surprise him at all. He pushed her away slightly, so he could look in her eyes. And contrary to what he might've imagined, he was met with a look of acceptance. Sadness, yes. Grief, yes. But above all, contention and acceptance. Mitsuha looked away, knowing there wasn't much to say between her and Taki. So she just leaned forward, allowing herself to fall into Taki's arms. She knew there would be plenty of time to cry very soon.

They came through the mouth of the cave rather inconspicuously, almost tentative to even come outside. Probably a little shaken from what'd just happened. Just over yonder was the rim of the crater they were standing in. And somewhere along its circumference was the very spot they met for the first time. A moment of very mixed feelings. The jubilation of meeting each other was, for lack of a better word, awesome. They'd grown so fond of each other without having ever met, so meeting for the first time proved to be a very emotional moment for both. And their friendship hardened in an instant. Laughing and teasing each other like childhood friends, mere minutes after seeing each other in person for the first time.

Part of them wished they had more time with each other. Really, all they were afforded as far as time went was pleasantries and a dire warning from Taki that the meteor was going to destroy Itomori. That was it. Oh, but then there was something else too. Perhaps the most horribly botched exchange of names ever. The intention was to mark each other with their names, so that they wouldn't forget. It didn't exactly work out that way.

So much emotion tied to this one spot. So much of their relationship, so much of what made them happy in the present time. It would've been foolish to come all the way out here, and not hold each other at the top of the crater the way they never got to 5 years ago. Of course, it would've been impossible to recreate the same moment, with the same implications and circumstances, and the same emotional atmosphere. Neither of them had any intention to try, though.

Taki helped Mitsuha up to the top, and the view they were met with was both familiar and somewhat obscure. It was quite nice, actually. The second crater had turned into a rather lively pocket of fauna and plants and stuff. Like a wide open pasture or meadow of sorts. Much like the one where the Miyamizu shrine sat. Very little indications of civilization here, apparent only to those who knew so already.

Mitsuha wasn't here to dwell in the past, though. She turned to Taki, and turned him toward her.

"Taki-kun…we've…never really had a proper introduction…have we?"

"Well, we didn't exactly meet in a proper way, either! But…I know. We've never shaken hands, even formally introduced ourselves…"

"I'm fine with the way we did greet each other when we met in the end, though. Wouldn't trade that moment for anything. But…you're right. We never…you know…"

"Then…" Taki cleared his throat quickly. "Hi! I'm Tachibana Taki. Pleased to meet you!"

She didn't think he would take that seriously at all. But appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

"I'm…hehe…Tachibana Mitsuha…pleased to meet you as well…"

She fell into his arms, allowing his presence to wrap around her and take her away. In the same spot she met the love of her life for the first time, she rested easy, unable to think of a place she'd rather be.

* * *

All in all, getting up early in the morning to take the trip paid off, because by the time they got back to the train station, it was still pretty much early afternoon. Not too much of the day had been sacrificed. Well, 'sacrificed' probably wouldn't be the right word. Maybe 'spent'.

And the train back to Tokyo felt quick, and they got back before they even realized it, almost missing the stop to get off. Still, it was a nice time to just hold each other, as they snuggled close on the train, again afforded the privacy of a near empty train. Despite their affection and how close to each other they were, neither of them could actually read each other's minds. That would be strange. But close to nothing was said verbally the entire ride back. What was there to talk about, honestly? Their minds were in different places, and either of them could've been accused of being a bit curious as to what the other was thinking.

They spent their time on the train recounting. In different ways, but in many others, similarly as well. Taki tried his best to remember everything that he saw in Mitsuha's body. The results were…interesting. Although the tangible perception of his time in Itomori was foggy, hazy, and overall clouded by the time and experiences that had passed, the impact of every single moment still sat fresh in his brain. After all, a lot of what he went through as Mitsuha shaped how he goes about doing things in his present. Of course something that impactful wouldn't be hard to remember. Slowly be surely, he remembered the exact moment he fell in love with Mitsuha. He wasn't honest with it. In fact, he vehemently denied it, but there was nothing to hide. A lot of happy memories, yes. None more impactful than the one where he and Mitsuha reunited at the staircase. But. Because of what he saw in the cave not too long ago, he only felt worse. Like he could've done more. Like he was responsible and the culprit for all this sadness.

Mitsuha's own comeuppance replayed like a movie in her head. Growing up in a rural town with such a limited population. Feudal and traditional lifestyles held onto by the neck. Having a happy family, and watching it dissolve after her mother passed away. And the subsequent years, and how her family shaped up to be from there on out. And then Taki. Her own flesh and blood. Blood is thicker than water, yes, but she had more than enough reason to consider Taki her own family. After all, it wouldn't be too long (hopefully, that is) until they were husband and wife. And starting a family of their own. But it was because of all of that, because of everything that's happened with Taki that she felt even guiltier over everything that happened with her real family. Like she didn't do enough. Because nothing was going to be the same anymore.

* * *

When they got to what was now considered Yotsuha's house, the mood was…strange. Somber, morbid, and just sad overall. But maybe unsurprisingly, there was a lot of relief in there. A lot of acceptance.

"Would you believe us if we said we got to talk to her one last time before she passed?"

"Honestly? I…I think I would. What did she say to you?"

"It was…really touching, actually. I guess long story short, she just wished us a happy life going forward, and granted us her blessing. But I guess the most important thing was that she was at peace. And could rest easy knowing we all turned out pretty okay."

"Yeah…you guys'll take care of me, right?"

"Absolutely…"

"So how did…you guys, I guess, talk to her?"

"Well…it's honestly a really long story. We'd…probably have to start from the very beginning, wouldn't we, Taki-kun?"

"Yeah. Nothing would make sense without the entire context. I mean, I still have trouble wrapping my head around it to this day."

As curious as Yotsuha was, she wasn't about to get into storytime for an hour. Especially not with what just happened. But still, she wanted to know how both of them were possibly able to contact her in her last moments. In some odd sense, everything going on was crazy to the point where…it almost made sense. Nothing about any of their lives were normal, so why would they take exception to something like this? For all they knew, Hitoha could still be alive spiritually. None of them were going to pretend they knew how any of that worked, but there was, honestly, literally no other explanation for such a phenomenon. Or any of the previous ones, for that matter. You're not supposed to be able to talk to the dead. Yet they did.

"So. Here's what happened. Yotsuha. Are you ready?"

"The fact that you ask me that makes me not so ready anymore…"

"Well…we actually went back to Itomori this morning."

"Really? How early did you have to get up?"

"Pretty early, but that's not really the point. You see, Taki and I have been having these…nightmares. These brutal, horrible nightmares. So horrific that there wasn't any possible way we could have these dreams coincidentally or naturally. Well…actually, they weren't really that bad. But they were trippy. And they were very strange. And we seemed to have almost identical dreams in the same night. So…we went out the Itomori, thinking we could find some sort of answer."

"What made you think you would find one out there? Like, what would Itomori have to do with you guys having these dreams?"

"Now that we think about it…we don't know. We honestly have no idea what we were thinking going all the way out there, and why we thought somehow there'd be a way to stop these dreams from happening out there. But…it worked out. We found out why…"

"Well, then…what is it? And what does this have to do with Obaa-san?"

"Before I say anything…just know that everything I'm about to say is 100% true. It's gonna sound really stupid, to be honest."

"Nothing up to this point has sounded very reasonable anyway. Let's be clear."

"So then it shouldn't be a whole big surprise when I say that…Obaa-san's dementia…wasn't a coincidence. And it wasn't a totally natural occurrence, like she didn't develop that from old age. So…over time, Obaa-san had gradually melded her mind and body with the spiritual realm. As more and more of her consciousness shifted into this other world…she lost touch with her body in this world. Over time, she became increasingly out of touch with her corporeal body. What came off as Alzheimer's disease and dementia and all that actually turned out to be her spirit leaving her body. So eventually, when her presence in the spiritual realm became strong enough, she became able to oversee those closest to her. And as such…influence our dreams."

"So you're telling me Obaa-san created those dreams for you two."

"Sounds crazy, right? I mean honestly, that just sounds so ridiculous, right? But…I believe in what I saw…and so do you, Taki-kun, right?"

"I do. So then she told us that she created those dreams…kinda as a test. A message, in a sense. I don't know what she told Mitsuha…but witnessing something that felt so real…and so close to home…the fear of losing each other was the strongest forge of bravery and responsibility for one another. But only if we had a strong enough relationship…"

Taki looked over at Mitsuha, who nodded her head in concurrence. Hitoha's words to him hit deep. Now all of the sudden he gained a feeling of responsibility for Mitsuha's well-being much, much stronger than the one he had before, if it was even possible. She was his absolute blood and soul, anything that would happen to her would devastate him. And he knew she felt the same way about him, too.

"What she said to me was very heartwarming. That she couldn't be happier that I was the one who ended up with Mitsuha. She didn't think there was anyone in the world who would love her more than I do, and I believe that to be absolutely true."

"So with that being said…Yotsuha…we can stay with you…for however long you need. In fact, we want to be here with you, so that you won't be alone."

Yotsuha wasn't used to this kind of emotion. She tried so hard to uphold this veil of composure and cool, but given the magnitude of the situation, it was pretty much impossible. She pulled Mitsuha and Taki in for a big group hug. The kind that happy families do. Yotsuha would've been a hypocrite to say that having emotions for her family wasn't cool. The relief of having her sister, and honestly her brother in spirit by her side eased a lot of the pain. Despite everything her personality and body language would suggest, she loved her grandmother beyond what she could describe. But every time she was with Mitsuha and Taki, she was exceptionally happy. Every second she'd spent with them had been a cherished memory. All that in spite of the realistically little time she'd spent with Taki. But as the old saying goes, it's quality over quantity. Every time. There were no two other people in the universe she'd rather be taken care of by.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Yotsuha…"

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 **A/N: So that's how I chose to have Hitoha go out. And honestly, I'm at peace with it. I wasn't quite happy with how I portrayed her in earlier chapters, so hopefully this one did her some justice. I realize my take on spiritual connections with the overworld and the limitations of spirits in their ability to communicate with the ethereal realm is probably farfetched, even for a fantasy SoL fic, and I realize this sentence is extremely long. Lemme know any of this didn't make sense so I know for the future.**

 **Speaking of which, YES IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS I KNOW AND I'M SORRY! Seriously, I am very very sorry. Gonna tickle my ego a little bit here, but I openly acknowledge that there are some of you who look forward to these chapters and give it a lot of love and support, and I do feel pretty bad that I don't uphold my end of the bargain. But the past two months have been pretty busy, and there just wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. So with that being said, the regular schedule should resume as of the posting of this chapter. Oh, who am I kidding, there was no regular schedule. But there definitely won't be a two month gap between chapters anymore, that's for sure.**

 **So the end of the fic should probably give a pretty good idea of where this story is headed. Their lives are changing, and now our beloved couple has a new challenge ahead of them. But that doesn't mean what happens from here on out should be predictable by any means. There's still gonna be surprises around every corner. I think that, if anything, has been the one thing that's made my fic any good.**

 **So that's it from me this time. And now here is the section where I try to extend my thanks and appreciation to you, my incredible audience, in a way that doesn't sound forced. Frankly, that's just a limitation of text that I've come to accept. But the very idea of someone taking the time to read my story keeps me going.**

 **Also, a huge welcome to anyone new to the story. I see that there's quite a few new readers since the last time I uploaded a chapter, so again, welcome, everyone! I promise two months is not how long it normally takes for me to write a chapter, it's just Thanksgiving and Christmas came along and school and AUGH! Also, a huge thank you to everyone that helped get this fic to a crazy milestone (crazy to me) of 80 favorites and 90 follows. I can't even believe that's how far this fic as come. I mean, honestly, I got excited when I had 8 favorites and 9 follows. Unreal.**

 **Shoutout of you're still reading. I'm a much less interesting individual in comparison to the story, so the rambling has probably gotten out of hand at this point. Until next time, y'all. Cheers.**


	21. Chapter 21

"Yotsuha!"

No response.

"Yotsuha!"

And the silence persisted

"YOTSUHA! GET UP!"

Third time wasn't the charm, and Mitsuha stormed up the stairs after a trifecta of failed attempts to get her sister out of bed. It'd been a while since she'd lived in her former home, and not much was different. She was never the one responsible for getting Yotsuha out of bed for school; that responsibility lied with their grandmother Hitoha.

However, that just wasn't the case anymore.

Throwing open Yotsuha's sliding door brought back some memories of living in Itomori. The role reversal triggered some nostalgia. In many years prior, it was Yotsuha getting Mitsuha out of her room and at the table for breakfast. The tables turn, and the amount of time that had passed since made Mitsuha think a little bit. But the situation at hand still need addressing. Yotsuha hadn't budged an inch since her sister had called for her. It didn't look like she had any intention of getting up any time soon.

"YOTSUHA! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"

"Alright, alriiight, I'll get up…"

She wasn't fully awake, but she was willing to do pretty much anything to get Mitsuha to stop nagging at her. To some degree, Mitsuha's nagging could've been a bit much. Even going back to the night at Taki's apartment. Still, Yotsuha had to be just a little bit thankful for her older sister being here. Not only would she have been pretty lonely, but she would've been almost guaranteed late for school.

"You barely have enough time for breakfast! Get ready and come eat!"

The way Mitsuha left the room, it definitely wasn't out of anger. No hostile inflection like that of an abusive parent. It was…more annoyed. And irritated. Much like a parent. Normally, Yotsuha would just brush it off and ignore it. But she realized that Mitsuha was almost all she had left as far as her family went. Best not make the current situation harder.

Mitsuha returned to their dining area, where Taki was enjoying his morning coffee. She sat down right next him, on the same side of the chabudai, and began reaching for the rice in its steamer.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Ehh, not really. We just have to wait for a certain someone."

Taki took a second to think about what was going on. It's been 3 days since they've taken temporary establishment in the Miyamizu household, and everything was different. Like, no sh*t, right, of course it was different. But Taki was expecting this monumentally exhilarating, or equally disappointing, experience. Really, he got none of that. It was different in the sense of scenery and location. As far as the life changes went, he didn't really feel any. And he'd have been a liar to say he wasn't a little disappointed.

The Miyamizu house was rather nice, actually. Not a mansion, by any means, but a very nice, spacy, comfortable house in a good part of town. Not to say that Taki lived in a bad neighborhood, but certainly the two areas were on different rungs of the social ladder. In fact, it was the kind that Taki would choose to raise his and Mitsuha's family in some day. Perhaps it was the Miyamizu patriarch that was funding this abode. It was, after all, fair to assume he'd found some position somewhere in the local government. He'd made such a big deal to Mitsuha about moving into a new home somewhere, and perhaps he was just disillusioned by the impression of 'more is better'. As far as their daily routine was concerned, everything was the same. They got up, ate breakfast, went to work, and came home. Speaking of which, the commute if anything was a little tougher. Maybe just out of the principal of being different, though. And he'd also have been a liar to say he didn't miss their little apartment. He could tell Mitsuha certainly did. Just by her facial expressions when they get up out of bed. Sentiments aside, too, he missed his own bed. And a space that felt like his own. _Now I understand where you're coming from, sweetie…_

"Mitsuha…"

"Yes, darling…"

"Is this…how you want our lives to look like in the future?"

Mitsuha was in the middle of bowling the rice for breakfast, and his question hit her hard enough to stop her from what she was doing. So she solemnly put down the bowl, and wrapped her arms around Taki's, leaning against him.

"It's…it's hard to say. The reason I love your apartment so much is because…because…"

"Because it's our place. Not an apartment, not just some place to live. But it's a place we can call ours. Our private space…"

"Right…I mean, I get it. People move all the time, and they have to get used to different places all the time…everyone has to at some point…"

Mitsuha had trouble thinking of what to say next, and Taki certainly didn't have anything of his own to add. The sentiment between them was clear, so best not try to confuse it with words that don't mean anything.

"But that doesn't change the fact that we're here for a reason. Can I confess something to you?"

"Sure."

"I've…never been able to really swallow the fact that…I basically took you away from your family."

"Taki, we've been through thi-"

"You never seem to understand, though." Taki had so much more had wanted to say, but given the current situation, it probably wasn't the best time for it. Mitsuha will always be a little vulnerable, and in a time like this, she was most likely much more so. He didn't like the idea of Mitsuha abandoning her family to live with him, but he hated making her cry even more.

Mitsuha by no means was fragile, but she possessed a lot of sensitive points that only someone like Taki would know. It wouldn't have been fair to him to start accusing her of something that was ultimately his own doing.

"Look. We can talk about our future soon. But let's worry about right now. There's someone who needs us. Well. Maybe not 'need' need. But we should do what we can to keep her upright. Y'know, I shouldn't have even said anything…"

"N-, don't, Taki. Don't be like that. Y'know, it actually still bothers me that you're not comfortable speaking your mind when it's just us. You still withhold a lot of thoughts that you know bother you. Yet, for whatever reason, you don't think you need to talk about it. Can we change that?"

"Mitsuha, I do open up to y-"

"But you never seem confident, and you're always hesitant."

"I could easily say the same about you. Look. This talk is going nowhere, we've changed subjects at least three times now. There'll be a time and place where we can let everything out. Let's plan on it. When we go back home, let's promise to unload everything on our minds. Does that sound good?"

"It…it does…"

It put their relationship into a little bit of perspective. There were times where they could claim to be the world's ultimate lovers, that there were no two people on the planet who loved each other more than them. Yet, this barrier of communication still existed. Miniscule or not, it only represented a major flaw in their bond.

Taki wrapped his arm around Mitsuha and pecked her with a kiss, wanting her to relax. "Hey. We still haven't eaten breakfast yet."

"Speaking of whi-…YOTSUHA!"

"I'm here, I'm here!"

Unbeknownst to Taki and Mitsuha, the younger Miyamizu caught the latter part of their conversation. And her mood and feistiness changed drastically. Without them, she'd be all by herself. Never mind the fact that she's too young to live by herself, it's lonely for anyone regardless of their age to be by themselves. She felt slightly more grateful that they chose to be with her in this strange time in their lives.

At the table, she had a lot on her mind. A lot that she felt like needed to be shared. Anyone who knew Yotsuha knew she wasn't that great with words. As quiet as Mitsuha was, Yotsuha could almost be considered even more of an introvert. And she knew this. Often times, she'd try to compensate by acting like a brat, for the sake of attention. Or diversion of attention, rather. She herself didn't even really know why she acts the way she does sometimes. So as such, her intention of sharing her gratitude for Taki and Mitsuha's presence went away. Perhaps she didn't want to come off as sappy or anything. Even though Mitsuha would be happy to hear what Yotsuha would be thinking about at any given moment. But again, it just wasn't in her character to speak her mind. The toast at the beach was an impossibly rare outlier.

So for breakfast, the mood and atmosphere was a bit awkward. It was clear as day that the two sisters had stuff on their minds they would've like to share. But just couldn't find the courage to speak up. Perhaps being away from each other for as long as they were created a slight communicational rift.

 _Oh c'mon it was barely two months._

And as sociable and conversational as Taki was, even he felt like it would've been weird to throw just anything out there. Perhaps he could ask Yotsuha what she's learning in school, or what they have planned for the day. Or maybe her love or social life. _That's a terrible idea!_ But if there was anything that was common among the three of them, it was the confusion as to why this tension was here in the first place. All of them care so much about each other, and up to this moment couldn't be more comfortable with each other at al. So why is it so hard for them to get words out of each other?

Eh. Death in the family is really serious. And spending friendly time together is completely different from living together. So this slight discomfort shouldn't come as a surprise to any of them. It's just a difficult time to be in.

"So how's school? What are you guys learning?"

 _Eh. What the heck._

"Oh, it's, uhhh, going well. I guess. I think my favorite subject right now is probably economics."

"Oh, that's cool. Ha, I've always found it kind of funny how neither of you are too interested in political science."

The sharp silence all but told Taki that was the wrong thing to say. The question, of course, stemmed from their dad, and he always knew that they had a pretty non-traditional relationship with their dad. But the new mood let him know that they almost straight up didn't like him. It made sense, too. To this day, he's never met him in his own body; he'd only met him through Mitsuha's eyes. All be told, he was clearly never around. So not much for them to really care about in that department.

"I'm sorry…that was not a smart thing to say…"

"Oh! No worries, Taki. But yeah, the idea of how money works is pretty interesting. I think I'm gonna make a career out of it."

"That's awesome, Yotsuha. Just like your big sister."

Yotsuha's tardiness didn't afford them much time to eat, so the remainder of the time at the table was spent wolfing down whatever breakfast they could before they had to head to work.

"Alright, gotta go."

"Okay. Bye, sweetie."

Taki and Mitsuha pecked each other on the lips, and the masculine half of the pair darted out the door, but not before running over and wrapping Yotsuha in a one-armed hug and bidding her a goodbye, too. And Yotsuha couldn't help but feel like she just watched 10 seconds of a sitcom. Before long, Mitsuha herself had to start her commute as well. Before she did, she also gave her sister a big hug and a bye.

As hard as her personality tried to deny it, and as cheesy as she knew it was, Yotsuha couldn't help but feel tremendously better having someone to say bye to before going to school. For something that's usually taken for granted, it did wonders for her and her mental state. Going to school was that much easier.

(line break)

Before they knew it, the weekend came around. This is new for Taki and Mitsuha. They weren't used to having to find somehow or someway to include someone else in their plans. Every other instance was out of chance and circumstance. But perhaps this more than anything was a good opportunity to strengthen the rapport between each other.

"Guys! Can we go to Akiba today?"

Akihabara. That might've been the absolute last place either of them expected Yotsuha to request. But then again, what did they know about Yotsuha?

"Akiba? I didn't know you were into that kinda stuff."

"Well…y'see…I'm…not really going for myself…I mean I do like anime quite a bit…but…"

Teenage girl. Blush. Not going for herself. It added up too conveniently. The next thing Yotsuha saw when she looked up were her sister and future brother-in-law pounce over for the juicy details.

"Wait, Yotsuha…could it be that you're getting something for a…BOOOYYY?"

"Guys, I'm 18, not 13! What the frick is wrong with you guys?"

"Oh, Yotsuha smitten for the first time!"

"It's not the first time, what are you talking about?!"

"I can't wait to meet him, and tell him all of the embarrassing stories about you!"

"You'll never meet him at this rate!"

As the sisters were playfully arguing, Taki looked back on his love life. He never had one. All he's ever had and known was Mitsuha. He never had the struggle of pursing someone who didn't return his feelings. He's never had to deal being rejected, and moving on from that person. Okudera doesn't really count; there wasn't enough chemistry between them to think anything was serious. And as far as he knew, neither did Mitsuha. He savored the fortune for a second, appreciating that Mitsuha practically fell into his lap. Well, to his credit, what he and Mitsuha went through was arguably much worse than what people normally go through. So maybe he'll get to really see the high school romcom he never got to really experience.

"Well, I know a thing or two about what guys like when it comes to anime. We could seriously help you, Yotsuha."

(line break)

It didn't take a genius to see that Yotsuha was completely out of her territory. So was Mitsuha, but at least she didn't look outright uncomfortable. The safest bet was to assume Yotsuha was terrified of seeing someone from school here, giving them the wrong idea. Or better yet, the person who she was here for. She had a point, though. If there was anything she learned from the few slice-of-life shows she watched, it was that unfortunate shenanigans could occur with little to no warning. The kind that would inevitably embarrass her and lead to rumors and whatnot at school. That's just how kids are.

'Tread wearily and lay low' was the strategy. But ironically, it almost brought more attention to herself than if she were to just walk through normally. Yotsuha refused to make eye contact with anyone, and almost stared at the ground the whole time through. At some point, she almost wondered what she was even here for, and walked through the shopping district pretty much aimlessly. And she so on edge that Taki and Mitsuha were worried that she'd just freak out if they said a word to her.

But at this rate, they'd pass through all of Akihabara without even stopping somewhere. The elder Miyamizu took matters into her own hands, and pulled her sister over. "What're you so worked up over?"

"Look, this is…uncharted territory for me…I don't belong here at all…"

"So why are we here?"

"Because, well…"

"It was your idea to come here, after all."

"I know…I feel kinda bad now that I've dragged you all the way out here…"

Taki interjected, having a little bit of perspective on where she was coming from. He too remembered being conflicted between who he was and who he wanted to be. What Yotsuha wanted to be was a cool girl. The one that seemed invincible, whose confidence struck either admiration or fear into their peers. But deep down, she was just like Mitsuha. Quiet and reserved, and slightly out of touch with popular culture. There was no way in the world she was going to be able to identify what to get for this individual. And perhaps it was a little bit of his fault too. He didn't even hesitate to approve a trip to Akiba, without considering his travel party, and the implications around it.

"Hey, I never mind coming out here. This is kid-in-a-candy-store territory for me. But I do wanna ask why you think getting something here would…you know…"

"Okay, look, I…plan on confessing to him pretty soon. And I thought, y'know, instead of a cliché box of chocolates…why not get creative and…get him something from here?"

"Oh, Yotsuha, that's so thoughtful! That's so outside the box, I'm really impressed!"

"Yeah…"

"Do you even know what kind of shows he watches? Or what kind of merchandise he likes?"

"I thought I did…but now that we're out here, I'm…kinda drawing a blank…"

"Say no more, Yotsuha. I, your otaku yet dashingly handsome tour guide Taki, will be your willing life line on your search for the Holy Grail! Let us embark!"

He said that so loud that just about everyone around them turned and looked, with the two Miyamizus wanting nothing more than to die right where they stood. But, it's Taki. Based on his physical stature, no one would ever peg him as some NEET otaku.

For the rest of the day, the threesome traversed the shopping district, browsing wares and merchandise. It didn't take long to find the heart-sealing gift for Yotsuha's love interest, and Taki couldn't help but feel himself at how expertly quick he found it. But something felt weird though. It almost seemed too convenient that he knew exactly what to get. Almost like he was getting this gift for someone he…already knew?

Anyway, the rest of their time after that was all theirs. The trio learned more and more about their mutual interests, augmenting the experience of finding merchandise for all their favorite shows within these fountains of otaku goods. Spending a little more money than they probably needed to, they departed Akihabara with bags upon bags of almost everything ranging from scale figures, Gunpla kits, charms, and wall scrolls. Oh, and Blu-ray sets of their favorite shows.

And before they could even stop to reflect on their day together, Taki's phone buzzed, signifying a text message. The lock screen revealed that it was a message sent from their group chat, which Mitsuha also received.

"'Look to your left', what?"

So the group rotated to their left to be encountered by the Holy Trinity of hijinks. Shinta, Tsukasa, and Okudera. To be fair, only one of them was a real cause for concern if there needed to be one. The other two were pretty tame.

"Why are you guys here?"

"We could ask you the same question, guy."

Taki would've much rather be seen by his friends in a different place than an anime shopping district. But it was nice to see them rather unexpectedly. In some way, he could argue that surprises are a little better than plans. Well, only the pleasant ones.

"Hey, it's Miyamizu Double Trouble! Good to see you guys, I feel like it's been so long!"

Mitsuha chuckled at how cute Shinta's little nickname for her and her sister was. "Hi, Takagi-san!"

Yotsuha offered a significantly different reaction, though. She…

 _Oh my god, Yotsuha, it's this guy?_

Taki turned, also needing a second to piece what was happening together. But he too did not take long to realize the brunt of the situation. "Yotsuha, what's wro-", his statement being followed by a big gasp.

Hand over her mouth, blushing, horrified of eye contact with Shinta, there it was. The maiden has been exposed, Yotsuha is indeed smitten with Shinta. Taki and Mitsuha looked at each other, while the opposite trio had no idea what was going on. Actually, maybe Okudera could pick up on the body language, who knows?

But all in all, it made sense. Sort of. The only interaction Taki and Mitsuha had witnessed between his co-best friend and her younger sister was the fateful night. The drunk travesty and the beach day. The night that all but sealed their unbreakable friendship. With a bit of evaluation and reminiscence of what transpired during those hours, it became less of a surprise that Yotsuha had developed some sort of attraction to Shinta. Shinta by no means was a bad looking dude. He had some stock and muscle on him, he was kind and funny, and if there was one thing Yotsuha loved a lot, it was laughing. Probably because she didn't do enough of it.

Taki noticed one free hand behind Yotsuha's back, so he pulled a fast one and shuffled over to her, hanging the bag where her gift, now revealed to be for Shinta, was contained on her fingers. Before Yotsuha could react, Mitsuha expertly diagnosed Taki's tactics and assisted him. "Guys, let's go check out if they have any wedding stuff in that store over there."

Okay, 'expertly' wasn't quite the right word. Mentally face-palming, Taki couldn't believe how badly Mitsuha almost botched the entire scene. ' _Wedding stuff', are you kidding me, Mitsuha?_ He was inadvertently reminded that she and he and done next to nothing to plan their wedding, took a mental bookmark to do so, and went along with Mitsuha's 'distraction', gesturing Tsukasa and Okudera away from where they were.

When they were at a safe distance, Okudera pointed over at them, pretty much deciphering what was going on. "Are they…?"

"Well, are far as we know, it's one sided."

"Well, we can confirm that it's mutual."

Taki and Mitsuha's faces lit up with joy. "REALLY?!"

"Yeah, the big guy's had a pretty hefty crush on her since beach day. I guess he was just uncomfortable with the age difference. But from what it sounds like, she doesn't seem to mind at all. What is it, 4 years?"

"That's honestly not even bad, either."

"Hey. Do you wanna do some role playing?"

"You guys are messed up!"

"Okay. I'll be Shinta. You be Yotsuha."

"'kay. 'Here are the secret codes for the nuclear bomb, do not mess this up!'"

"Wow this looks so cool! Must be pretty dangerous to have this! Hey what does this button do?'"

"'IT WON'T…do anything until it's reached the designated time window…'"

"'I wonder if I play around with it, it'll actually cause this HUGE explosion!'"

"'You…ugh, why do I find this funny, I'm the general, I shouldn't laugh at anything, hahahahaha!'"

But the mood of their little improv skit shifted quickly; Yotsuha and Shinta fell into a tight, passionate hug. "But whatever you do, stay safe. It's a dangerous industry we work in."

"You ain't never losin' me, boss!"

Mitsuha and Okudera had to genuinely clap at how nicely they wrapped up improv hour. Such a short, and stupid story, but the ending synced with the mood of the real situation almost perfectly. The foursome 'aww'd in unison, just in time for Yotsuha to catch them out of the corner of her eye. And be very not happy about it.

"What're you guys looking at?!"

"Just pretend we're not here!"

"You know what? We don't even have to pretend! C'mon, Shinta, let's go somewhere else."

Shinta could only look back and quickly wave goodbye before being swept away by his new lover. And just like that it came down to Taki and Mitsuha, and Tsukasa and Okudera.

"Man. Talk about a bad case of 'pair the leftovers'."

The rest of the group didn't react very kindly to that, clamoring at him in disgust with dude's and seriously's. "Hey guys, c'mon, I was just kidding. Honestly it's really nice that they're together."

"Yeah. I think it was inevitable, though. I mean, dare I say it, but you were right, Tsukasa. They were kinda the odd ones out in our little circle, so I guess it was only natural that they end up a little closer to each other."

"Huh. I never thought I'd ever see the day where my own little sister is in my circle of friends."

"What, Yotsuha's pretty chill. I don't think it's weird at all."

"No, I'm not saying it's weird, it's just…I dunno, I've always seen her in a different light."

"You're siblings. That's pretty much a given."

"Yeah…"

(line break)

Dinner followed by coffee and desserts was content for the group. Their evening supper was spent at a revolving sushi bar, and the original hangout café served as their spot for pastries and house roast. And a discussion that Okudera had been saving for a time where they could be together, but alone and in a quiet setting.

"Do you guys remember when…you had just told us you were getting married?"

"The night before the beach day?"

"I like how that's how you remember it, instead of by what happened…any way, we were joking around about having a group wedding, remember?"

"Uhhh, not really, but okay."

"I…kinda wanna do it."

The rest of the group looked at her in…maybe not bewilderment. But definitely a little bit of confusion and disbelief.

"So you wanna get married with all of us?"

"Hey, I think it'd be really cool. We're all pretty tight knit. I think it gets rid of the trouble of having to plan around each other's weddings. And we all get to spend our big day with each other! Isn't that what we'd do anyway?"

The argument held a lot of merit. Primarily the point of saving time for convenience's sake. But. The whole point of a wedding is to celebrate the joining of two people, not six. At least in their case. Not to say that they wouldn't want to be with the others during their wedding. But for Taki and Mitsuha, part of the felt like the wedding would be less special. In the least selfish way possible, they weren't very receptive to the idea. At least at first. They cared about their friends, certainly. But at what point would they lose their individuality as a couple? In reality, it's not even really about Taki and Mitsuha anymore. And what's the point of that? Of course, they'd never know what Okudera meant by that. It was possible she had an entirely different sentiment to the whole thing. Perhaps that was a discussion for another day.

"At least give it a thought. I think it's a cool idea."

From there on out, the topic of conversation shifted from work, hobbies, current events, and whatnot. Some time went by. But not that much. By the time they were ready to leave the café, it was only about 20:00.

"You guys still down to do stuff?" to which the opposite couple nodded in concurrence.

"How 'bout movie night at my place?" Mitsuha figured that with a bigger floor space, they finally had an accommodating space for a large group. Not to say she minded being packed in tight on Taki's apartment floor, but maybe the rest of the group did. But what it all came down to was just simply 'why not?' It's not like they had anything else to do in particular.

Maybe it was the previous topic, and nobody quite knew how to react, but the walk to the Miyamizu residence was awfully quiet. Beyond just lack of words, it was almost uncomfortably quiet. And the weird part was that everyone in the group could feel it too, and each of the foursome tried to find something to say to break up this silence. Yet, something was stopping them. What did anyone have to hide from each other?

"Do, uhh, you guys have any movies in particular you wanna watch?"

"Actually, Mitsuha and I just watched this funny American rom-com, a-"

"Okay, we're not watching 'I Love You, Man' again."

"Oh, come on, really? You didn't think it was funny?"

"Well, I did, but are we really gonna watch it with another engaged couple, I just think it'd be weird."

"What's it about?"

"Ugh, it's about this guy who doesn't have friends, so he needs to find a best man for his wedding."

"That actually sounds like it can be pretty funny. I vote to watch that."

"Eh. I guess I don't really object either."

But upon entering Mitsuha's house, two figures that no one could immediately identify occupied the main living area. As if it could've been anyone else, Yotsuha and Shinta looked to be setting up a mildly elaborate board game.

"The beacon was sent, and the challengers have arrived!"

"What're you talking about, dude?"

"He convinced me to play Settlers, go figure."

Settlers of Catan served to be an extremely trying test of the male trio's friendship back in the day. A lot of frustration and anger birthed from this colonization simulator; pieces were thrown and very bad words were shouted every time they played. But alas, a lot of good memories came out of it, too.

"Shinta, you always sucked at this game, I doubt anything has changed!" Tsukasa proudly accepted the challenge, to which his fiancée just shook her head.

"What, what, how do you play this?"

Taki barely spotted sake and other distilled beverages already on the table. It seems like Shinta and Yotsuha had anticipated the group's return. Yeah, that's great. Settlers. Alcohol. 6 people. What could possibly go wrong?

 _Here we go again…_

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 **A/N: Hey guys, hope you liked this chapter. Now again, a long gap between chapters, but honestly more than just 'not having time'. If anyone who's read from the beginning read any of my previous author's notes, you'll know that I play baseball. Well. As of recently,** _ **played**_ **baseball. With baseball season coming around, I had to take some time to prepare for tryouts. Tryouts for my school's team were last month. And I got cut. Just like that, my baseball career was over. I mean, it's not like I was trying to play MLB or anything, but I'd been playing since I was 7. I'm 17 now. One of the biggest parts of my life for 10 years, and it was gone just like that. I can't really put into words how important the sport was to me, but it was rough. I didn't take it very well. I loved baseball, still love it even now. So I fell into a bit of a depression. Naturally, when you put so much effort into something and it doesn't work out, you get a little upset. I couldn't find the motivation to do anything. Went straight home after school every day. Didn't step out of the house, talk to my friends, or interact with anyone other than my family, for that matter. Didn't do that hot in class for a little bit, either. I mean, quite honestly, I was depressed. Thankfully, my family saved me a quick trip to the therapist (I don't mean to make this sound extreme, but baseball was the single most enjoyable part of my life) and got me to focus on the other things that made me happy. Which, wouldn't you know it, includes anime. And anime movies. Like 'Your Name'. And this story. When I came back to this story, and really took time to sit down and reread what I've written…a lot of it I wasn't proud of. To be honest, I wish I could just rewrite the first 4 or so chapters of the story. But maybe it was the early parts of the story that make me really proud of what it's become. I'm so proud of the audience it's developed, I'm so proud of the loyalty, and the following. I saw myself grow as a writer, just by rereading the story. And for a short second, just for a little tiny second, it made me forget about baseball. I mean, it came back and hit me again eventually, but just the satisfaction from writing the story, among a lot of other things, made me realize there's so much to accomplish outside of sports. I'm thankful that I didn't have to look very far to find motivation. So, with that being said, this chapter, I gotta be honest, I don't think is very good. And I'm not sure how it'll be received from here on out. But for sake the following and my own sanity, it isn't going anywhere. The story will go on. That, I can say for certain.**

 **So 100 favorites and follows. That is what brought me back. That is the milestone that made me believe that I'm so much more than a failed baseball player. It's your guys' readership that proved to me something that thought would never happen, ever. So for the umpteenth time, thank you all for the readership and the feedback and all that. They're what makes the story possible.**

 **That's it from me. I don't mean to mix my personal life too much into this, but I feel like you guys deserve an explanation for why there was such a gap between chapters. See whoever in the next one. Cheers.**


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